Lost in Darkness
by Aneko Kohana
Summary: CHAP 11 UP The third but not last in the Unicorn and the Stag series. Death Eaters are killing Hogwarts students. Murders are on the rise. There’s a new transfer from Durmstrang and could there be something between her and Neville? Rating just in case.
1. Heads, Comas and Back to School

A/N: Hermione is technically a Potter because Rose and Bill adopted her.  
  
Please R/R! No flames please! If you check my Artemis Fowl fic chap. 2 you will know why not to!  
  
Disclaimer: I only ever write this once. The only characters here that belong to me are Rose, Lily and James jr., Alex, Ally, Lucretia Diabolique, and Erin O'Connell. The rest belong to the talented, beautiful, kind, gentle, incredibly rich J.K. Rowling. No copyright infringement is intended.  
  
Lost in Darkness  
  
Chapter 1: Welcome to the Potter House and Back to Hogwarts  
  
"Harry! Breakfast!" Rose Potter called from the kitchen just below Harry's room.  
  
Harry Potter put on his glasses and rolled out of bed. Yesterday he had wished he could wake up some morning from something other than his niece and nephew's screaming. Be careful what you wish for. It was seven a.m.  
  
He stumbled down the stairs into the kitchen, where his sister Rose, cousin Hermione, girlfriend Ginny, and Mrs. Weasly were already waiting, looking alert and perfect.  
  
"How can you be so cheerful at seven in the morning?" Harry grumbled.  
  
"I'm not a morning person. I just had my French vanilla mocha already," Rose explained. "Have your breakfast."  
  
She pointed to a plate loaded with French toast, bacon, scrambled eggs and omelet. Harry took his green plate. There was already a steaming cup of coffee at his place.  
  
"With whipped cream?" Harry said, narrowing his eyes at Rose.  
  
"Whipped cream," Hermione said absently. "I made it. Stirred into the mocha."  
  
She was reading a book Rose had given her for her birthday, Extremely Ancient Runes. It looked quite dull to Harry, but his cousin was obviously fascinated with it.  
  
"Daddy! Ron! Bill! Percy! Fred! George! Breakfast!" Rose called.  
  
Immediately, Percy, Bill, Fred, George, Ron, and Sirius Black came bounding from their rooms into the kitchen. In that order. Well, the last two were more like plodding.  
  
"Daddy, I wish you would learn how to get up at a decent time," Rose said disdainfully.  
  
She always referred to Sirius as Daddy, as he was one of her godparents. Her other godparents were Professor Snape, who she called Father, Professor McGonagall, who she called Mother, and Madame Pomfrey, who she called Aunt Poppy.  
  
"I'm used to waking up when Buckbeak bites my foot," he yawned. He nearly tripped over Rose's cat Godric and Hermione's cat Crookshanks (who was really an Animagus named Gretchen McGonagall, the Professor's sister) as they scampered under the table.  
  
"Honestly, Gretchen," he said, staring at the cat. "Show some consideration."  
  
She quickly transformed back into her normal human shape. "Please keep calling me Crookshanks." And changed back into Hermione's ginger cat.  
  
Percy Weasly sat down at the kitchen table. "Good morning, Mrs. Potter," he greeted her stiffly.  
  
"Rose, Percy, please!"  
  
Percy had become much more pompous when he had been promoted to Head of his department.  
  
"I'm so glad you could come to stay," Rose said. "It's such a shame that you couldn't all come. I know Mr. Weasly is busy with his campaign for Minister of Magic, but why couldn't Charlie come?"  
  
"He's having trouble with a Norwegian Ridgeback that's growing in his adult teeth," Bill, Rose's husband, explained. "He's really depressed and won't respond to any name but one."  
  
Ron snorted. "Yeah. 'Norbert.'"  
  
Everyone but Rose and Sirius laughed.  
  
"What's Norbert?" Rose asked curiously.  
  
"Norwegian Ridgeback Hagrid got off somebody in a pub. He had to send it to a colony in Romania after Malfoy saw it." Harry said the name Malfoy like a curse.  
  
Rose flinched at the name. She had a particular grudge against Lucius Malfoy. He was one of the Death Eaters who followed Voldemort into the Potter house. He was the one who killed Sirius's sister Sarah and tried to kill Rose. He had been killed last year, but his son, the heir to Voldemort, was still alive.  
  
Harry was surprised to see that Sirius was picking at his food all of a sudden. Of course! Harry realized. Malfoy killed his sister.  
  
They quickly dropped the subject. "How's school?" Sirius asked.  
  
Ron groaned. "Oh shut up Ronnykins," Fred told him. "You got all your O.W.L.s and you also got to take them late."  
  
This was because they had been attacked by Voldemort while everyone else was taking the O.W.L.s.  
  
"Well, this year you've got N.E.W.T.s," Rose told them, pouring everyone more coffee. "And be glad you don't have to take them in America. According to everything I've heard Hogwarts tests are much easier. I wouldn't know since I took my O.W.L.s and my N.E.W.T.s at the Salem Witches Institute."  
  
"Rose, where are the twins?" Ginny asked.  
  
"Shh!" Rose hushed her, but they had already started crying. She sighed. "Oh well. It's seven thirty. They've been waking up at six."  
  
She left to get the twins.  
  
*~*~*  
  
She lifted James Arthur Potter and Lillian Molly Potter out of their bassinet. They smiled when they saw their mother.  
  
"Good morning, sunshines!" she told them. They giggled. "Come on; let's go see who's here! Grandma's here, and so are Uncle Fred and Uncle George and Uncle Percy, but you might not be too happy to see him."  
  
James laughed, but Lily cooed and whimpered. Rose held her up against her shoulder and carried them into the kitchen.  
  
"Oh, they're so cute!" Ginny and Hermione squealed.  
  
Rose sort of ignored it. They had done this every morning since the twins were born. She would almost welcome the new school year.  
  
"Raise your hand for Lily."  
  
Ginny's hand went up first. Rose handed her the seven-month-old infant girl.  
  
"James?"  
  
Hermione dropped her book and raised her hand. Rose handed him to her.  
  
"Wonder who he looks like," Harry said jokingly.  
  
It was obvious, really. Both twins had had masses of hair for babies when they were born. James had messy black hair, and Lily's hair was auburn red. They had identical green eyes. In short, James looked like his grandfather James and his Uncle Harry, and Lily looked nearly identical to her grandmother with the same name and her mother.  
  
"All right, breakfast for babies," Rose said. She handed a pastel green bottle to Hermione and a pink one to Ginny. The babies immediately bit down on them hard.  
  
"Say Padfoot, James, say Padfoot," Sirius said.  
  
"Daddy, stop it," Rose scolded. "They're seven months old."  
  
"You talked when you were seven months old."  
  
"No one does! You're lying!"  
  
"Okay. You talked the same time you walked." "  
  
"When was that?"  
  
Ten months."  
  
"Ten?!"  
  
"You were advanced."  
  
"Whatever."  
  
She went back to systematically picking apart her scrambled eggs before eating them.  
  
"Rosie darling, I hope you don't think those will be edible once you finish dissecting them," Bill told her.  
  
Rose decided not to protest being called Rosie. "They will, I do this every morning."  
  
"Hey, people," George said. Everyone hushed up to listen. "I know the Marauders' names. But what are the Phoenix's names?"  
  
"Yeah! Let's make our own!" Fred agreed.  
  
"Rose is Hornhead," Sirius said.  
  
Rose's favorite Animagus, of which she had many, was a Unisus, a unicorn with wings. Her marking was always a lightning-bolt scar, the same with Harry.  
  
"No," Rose disagreed. "Flower."  
  
"Too dorky."  
  
"Hey!"  
  
"Stop it!" Hermione snapped. "How about Ailes or Chifre?"  
  
"Huh?" Ron said.  
  
"Honestly. Ailes is 'winged' and Chifre is 'horn.'"  
  
"I like Ailes," Rose declared.  
  
"I'm Prongs," Harry announced.  
  
"No duh."  
  
"What's Ginny's favorite?"  
  
"Phoenix."  
  
"How about Redwing?"  
  
"Or Goldfeather?"  
  
"I like Redwing," Ginny decided.  
  
"I want to assign names!" Sirius whined.  
  
"Shut up, Daddy. My job. Mione's a hawk. What kind is it?"  
  
"Red-tailed."  
  
"Greywing."  
  
"Sure. What the heck."  
  
"Ron's a harpy eagle, so what about.Aquilo."  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"Aquila is a bird genus, but the A makes it sound girly."  
  
"Okay. Aquilo."  
  
"So I'm Ailes, Mione's Greywing, Ginny's Redwing, Harry's Prongs, and Fred and George can be Castor and Pollux. What are you two, raccoons?"  
  
"Those twins from the story? Sure. But I wanna be Castor," George said. "And yeah, raccoons."  
  
"Fine. The Bernards are squirrels and they aren't here so I could be particularly evil in their names. But I think Rara and Ara."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"They were nicknames I gave them. Rara and Ara are twins from this story a teacher told me when I was little. They were little squirrels who were particularly mischievous."  
  
"Perfect."  
  
"So I'm Ailes, Mione's Greywing, Ginny's Redwing, Harry's Prongs, Fred's Pollux, George's Castor, Alex is Rara, Ally is Ara and Ron is Aquilo."  
  
"The Patils."  
  
"Oh yeah! What are they, anyways?"  
  
"Robins."  
  
"Avis and Siva. Avis is a spell and Siva is just Avis backwards. We'll just all have to be careful not to say them while holding a wand."  
  
"Okay."  
  
"Write this down." Everyone pulled out paper.  
  
"I'm Ailes, a Unisus, Mione's Greywing, a red-tailed hawk, Ginny's Redwing, a phoenix, Harry's Prongs, a stag, Fred's Pollux, a raccoon, George's Castor, also a raccoon, Alex's Rara, a squirrel, Ally's Ara, also a squirrel, Ron's Aquilo, a harpy eagle, Parvati's Avis, a robin, Padma's Siva, also a robin. Oh, I almost forgot Bill. He's a tawny owl, so he can be Mailman."  
  
"I know it's weird, but I like it."  
  
"You are not weird."  
  
"Let's go swimming!" Ginny said. "Who's with me?"  
  
*~*~*  
  
Ginny loved starting the day with a nice swim. The warmish water of the lake made her cheerful for the rest of the day. Unfortunately, she was interrupted by the arrival of several owls.  
  
"Your letters," Rose said as one barely missed her coffee.  
  
Ginny sorted through the mass of letters the owls had dropped on the table and found hers. She pulled it out of Ron's hand and slit open the seal.  
  
She looked through her supply list for this year and was surprised at her Standard Book of Spells. It wasn't grade 6, it was grade 7. She looked through the paragraphs at the top of the page, which she noticed were longer than usual.  
  
She shrieked and clapped her hand over her mouth. She felt a familiar red flush creeping up her neck.  
  
"Ginny, what is it?" Harry asked her, alarmed.  
  
She silently handed him the letter and pointed to the spot she had been at. Everyone else leaned over his shoulder. When they had finished digesting the information, he handed it back to Ginny, who promptly began memorizing it. It read:  
  
Dear Ms. Weasly,  
  
We are pleased to inform you that you have been advanced to the seventh year due to your outstanding performance on the Hogwarts O.W.L.s.  
  
We discussed this with your parents and agreed that since you seemed to be bored with your current curriculum, this was the best thing to do. The following is a list of the books and other supplies you will need for your seventh year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.  
  
Good luck!  
  
"That's great, Ginny!" Ron said.  
  
Ginny was stunned. She pulled a second piece of parchment from the envelope stating the number of O.W.L.s she earned.  
  
All of them.  
  
She'd gotten a perfect score on every single one of the Hogwarts O.W.L.s. Some of the hardest tests in the world.  
  
"Now I wanna go shopping!" she announced.  
  
"I need new books," Hermione said. She had finished Extremely Ancient Runes.  
  
"I need out of the house," Rose declared. "Shopping trip! Girls get dressed! Sirius, you and Bill can watch the twins. If I come back hearing them cooing 'Padfoot,' you will be in trouble."  
  
Sirius grinned evilly. Ginny noticed the crossed fingers behind his back and held back a giggle.  
  
"Mione, let's match."  
  
"Sure."  
  
Hermione and Ginny shared clothes, as Ginny was pretty tall for her age. They shared a room whenever Ginny visited. Rose and Bill had adopted Hermione.  
  
"How about the pastel baby tees and the jean shorts?" Hermione suggested. She was very good at picking out clothes and knew numerous spells to reveal your perfect color, makeup, hairdo, shoes, and many other things.  
  
"Okay. You wear the pink and I wear the baby blue."  
  
"Sure."  
  
They changed quickly into their clothes, put on makeup and grabbed their purses. They met Rose in the foyer.  
  
"Have everything?" she asked.  
  
"Yes," they said in unison.  
  
"Than let's go."  
  
*~*~*  
  
Harry shook his head as the girls bounded out of the kitchen and went back to his letter. His was slightly thicker, too, and lumpy. He tipped it over onto the table, and a silver badge fell onto the table facedown.  
  
He picked it up and looked at the front. His eyes got big.  
  
"Sirius! Ron!" he yelled.  
  
They came rushing over to his side of the table and took a look at what the badge said.  
  
Head Boy.  
  
"Harry, that's great!" Sirius said. "Head Boy and Quidditch Captain! Just like your dad. You've got a guaranteed great job when you graduate."  
  
"Who's Head Girl?" Ron asked.  
  
"It'll be in the letter," Sirius told him.  
  
Harry and Ron immediately made a mad dash for the letter. Harry got it first. He opened it and read out loud.  
  
"Congratulations on being chosen as Head Boy for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, blah, blah, blah.here it is! You will be sharing the newly constructed Prefect House with the Head Girl, another Gryffindor."  
  
He paused to annoy everyone.  
  
"Harry!"  
  
"Okay, okay! Hermione Granger."  
  
The boys yelled and rushed to catch Hermione. Harry laughed and read the rest of the letter.  
  
"The prefects for this year are Virginia Weasly and Ronald Weasly for Gryffindor, Terry Boot and Padma Patil for Ravenclaw, Susan Bones and Justin Finch-Fletchley for Hufflepuff, and Dudley Durseley and Erin O'Connell for Slytherin."  
  
He went white. The newly returned girls and all the boys noticed.  
  
"Harry, what's wrong?" Hermione asked. "You just became Head Boy!"  
  
"Who are the new Gryffindor prefects, anyways?" Ron asked. He took the letter and whooped. "Hah! Take that, Mum!" Then he noticed the Slytherin prefects. "We'll be in the same house as them?"  
  
Harry nodded. Rose went just as pale as him. Harry understood why.  
  
Erin O'Connell was the daughter of the man who had abused Rose when Rose was ten years old. She was also the heir to Voldemort's sister, Lucretia Diabolique. Dudley Durseley had helped his father when Harry's uncle beat Harry up. He had been sorted into Slytherin just the last year.  
  
"I thought he was dead," Rose whispered. "Lucretia Diabolique said they'd kill him."  
  
"Well, they haven't. And now Ron, Hermione and I have to spend a year in the same house as him."  
  
"A tip: come home for every holiday you can."  
  
"Obviously, Rose."  
  
"Padfoot's going to drive me insane."  
  
Harry smiled weakly.  
  
"Oh come on, Harry," Ron said. "We'll stay around you. Brute force can always be blocked by a few charms."  
  
"And Lupin's doing defense this year. As in, against other wizards. Plus from what Mother and Father have told me, Dudley's the worst wizard or witch in the school. Including the first years. But I would advise keeping a lot of people around you this year. We wouldn't want the scout seeing you all bloodied up."  
  
"Scout?" Harry asked curiously.  
  
Rose looked surprised. "I thought they'd told you. A scout from the British Quidditch team is going to be watching all the practices and games this year. Half the team's retiring after the next Cup."  
  
"Oh no."  
  
"Harry, you're a brilliant captain. You're bound to get on the team."  
  
"Right. Yeah right."  
  
"You won the Inter-House Cup 350-100 last year! Plus you snapped O'Connell's toe."  
  
He smiled. "Thanks. But I'm serious. I'm going for a few rounds on my Firebolt."  
  
"Me too," Ginny said.  
  
"Where's my Firebolt?" Ron said.  
  
Rose and the American National Team had bought Firebolts for the entire Gryffindor Quidditch team last year.  
  
"Don't forget me," Hermione said.  
  
"Oh, Harry," Rose called as he left for his Firebolt, "There are a few people there you might want to meet."  
  
She glanced meaningfully at Fred and George, who perked up and ran for their Firebolts (birthday presents from the Americans).  
  
*~*~*  
  
Hermione, Harry, Ron, Fred, George and Ginny stared up at the two circling figures on the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch. Hermione put two fingers in her mouth and whistled.  
  
The two people looked down and went into a steep dive, nearly plowing into the ground.  
  
But they didn't, they were international standard players.  
  
"Alex!" Fred yelled.  
  
"Ally!" George yelled.  
  
They hugged. Alexa and Alice Bernard were two short, rather stocky blondes with hair cascading halfway down their backs. They both had identical turquoise blue eyes.  
  
"Missed you," the Bernards said.  
  
"I didn't see how the quarter-finals vs. England game went," George said.  
  
"Won it!" Ally cheered.  
  
"The semis?"  
  
"Won it!"  
  
"The Cup?"  
  
"Won it!"  
  
"You won against Ireland?! Why didn't you tell?"  
  
"I didn't get a chance."  
  
"I'm going for a couple laps," Hermione announced.  
  
"Me too," Ron, Harry, and Ginny said in unison.  
  
They took off and went up to about fifty feet before they started talking.  
  
*I had to find some excuse to get up here,* Harry said.  
  
*I want on the National Team!*  
  
*Don't us all?*  
  
*Obviously.*  
  
*Who do you think might make it, Harry?*  
  
*I have no idea. You?*  
  
*You.*  
  
*Ron! Fat chance of that!*  
  
*No, really!* he insisted. *You've never lost a game!*  
  
*Hufflepuff,* he said gloomily. *Remember Hufflepuff in third year?*  
  
*That wasn't your fault.*  
  
*Whatever.*  
  
*Hey, who's that?*  
  
They looked down. There was another person on the field, a tall, brunette woman. The four Gryffindors landed to take a better look.  
  
She was just introducing herself. "Hello. I am Daniela Johansen from the Department of Magical Games and Sports. I will be observing the Hogwarts Quidditch teams this upcoming year for recruits for the British team."  
  
"Fred Weasly."  
  
"George Weasly."  
  
"Alex Bernard."  
  
"Alice Bernard."  
  
She noticed the four seventh years and immediately looked up at Harry's scar. "Daniela Johansen, Mr. Potter, pleased to meet you." She looked at Ron and the girls. "And who might you be?"  
  
"I'm Hermione Granger, Harry's cousin," Hermione introduced herself. "I play Chaser for Gryffindor. This is Virginia Weasly, Keeper, and Ronald Weasly, Chaser."  
  
"I heard about your spectacular win of the inter-house cup last year," she said eagerly. "I was wondering who taught you how to Feint like that?"  
  
"My sister," Harry explained. "She played Seeker for the American team for three years."  
  
Daniela Johansen perked up immediately. "Your sister is Rosemary Potter?"  
  
"The one and only."  
  
"Is it true that she lives in Hogsmeade?"  
  
"The Shrieking Shack. She fixed it up two years ago."  
  
"Would she mind if I went to meet her?"  
  
"Most likely not. Hold on." Harry checked his watch. "The twins might be napping, though."  
  
Ms. Johansen's eyebrows furrowed. "Twins?"  
  
Hermione sighed. "Her twin children. Lillian Molly Potter and James Arthur Potter."  
  
"She's married?"  
  
"Yes. To my brother, Bill Weasly," Ron said.  
  
"Where exactly is the Shrieking Shack?"  
  
"Here, we'll show you."  
  
The nine set off for Hogsmeade.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Rose had just collapsed on the couch to take a nap (she had just put the twins down for theirs) when the doorbell rang.  
  
"Oh, for the love of Pete," she muttered.  
  
She rolled off the overstuffed couch and answered the door. Her brother, cousin, three brothers-in-law, two friends, sister-in-law, and a tall brown- haired woman she didn't recognize were standing on her porch.  
  
"Daniela Johansen," the brunette said, holding out her hand. "Assistant Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports."  
  
She looked quite breathless. Rose smiled.  
  
"Come in, come in," she said warmly, holding the door open. "But try to be rather quiet. James and Lily are napping."  
  
Her various relatives and friends made themselves right at home, sprawling across couches and chairs. Daniela Johansen simply sat primly on a hard wood chair.  
  
"So this is your home?" she said, looking around. "It's amazing what you've done with the place. How many other people live with you?"  
  
Rose paused to count on her fingers. "Daddy, Harry, Mione, Bill, James, and Lily. Six. And there are usually various Weaslys hanging around."  
  
"You live with Sirius Back?!"  
  
"You don't keep up with the news much, do you? He's innocent. Pardoned two years ago."  
  
"Oh, yeah."  
  
"You weren't a Hufflepuff by any chance, were you?"  
  
"Don't dis Hufflepuffs!" Ally called from the sitting room.  
  
Alex and Ally were half Hufflepuff, half Ravenclaw. Ally was the Hufflepuff.  
  
"As a matter of fact, I was a Ravenclaw," Daniela Johansen said.  
  
"Go Ravens!" Alex yelled.  
  
"Shut up and stop eavesdropping, Bernard!" Rose called back.  
  
"They're the Alexa and Alice Bernard?"  
  
"Yeah." She paused to shut the door. "Why are you here in Hogsmeade, anyways?"  
  
"I've got to book a room somewhere near Hogwarts. I'm observing the teams for recruits."  
  
"Oh! You know, there's a great place near here, the Golden Phoenix. Two of my brothers-in-law own it. It's really cheap, they only started last year. But the rooms are great. And you'll be able to observe plenty of Hogwarts students there; it's sort of a haven on visits."  
  
"Perfect! Who do I make arrangements with?"  
  
"Fred and George Weasly."  
  
Daniela Johansen left for the sitting room to talk to the twins. Rose sighed and decided to escape for a bit.  
  
She wrote a note saying she had gone up to Hogwarts for a bit and left it on the kitchen table. After making sure that the note was visible, she stopped in front of the portrait of the entire Potter family, an exact copy of the one outside her rooms at Hogwarts, and whispered, "Ailes and Prongs." Her parents smiled and the portrait swung aside.  
  
Beyond the portrait was a long stone passageway lit by torches every ten feet or so. Rose took out her wand and muttered, "Lumos." The tip of her willow, unicorn hair wand lit up, revealing the space between torches.  
  
The long tunnel sloped upward and downward a few times before Rose saw a large patch of cloth right ahead. She walked through it and into her Hogwarts rooms.  
  
She was in her memories room, where she always exited her personal passageway. The tapestry she had gone through was of a Unisus dancing in a forest.  
  
The entire room was decorated in shades of gray and blue. There were tables everywhere, filled with things. Jewelry, toys, clothes, music boxes, nearly everything imaginable. There was a comfy couch in the middle of the room.  
  
Rose kneeled in front of one of the tables and picked up a small redwood box. She opened it, revealing a small mirror, a plain silver ring, a rowan twig, a gold ring with a ruby lion, a matching necklace, a tiny gold ring with a rose on it, and a Celtic cross.  
  
Rose stroked the gold satin and red velvet interior of the box. A distant voice began to sing.  
  
"But in dreams, I still hear your name, and in dreams, we will meet again."  
  
Rose sang along with her mother's voice softly, so she could still hear it. She fingered the items in the box. The silver ring. Her ring for the Gold level Phoenixes. Harry's was gold. The rowan twig. A gift from her mother on her fifth birthday. It was a good luck charm, and a conductor of magic. The gold ring with the lion on it, and the matching necklace. Her mother's wedding ring and the necklace she wore on her wedding day. The rose ring. A Christmas present from her mother the Christmas Rose was five. The Celtic cross necklace. Her mother's. Dumbledore had given it to Bill, and Bill had given it to Rose last Christmas.  
  
She shut the music box and picked up a long, lacy white wedding dress with gold trim and a matching veil. They had been her mother's, too, and Rose had worn them when she married Bill. It had taken her hours to repair the rips and holes it had gotten when Voldemort kidnapped her the first time.  
  
Rose picked up a silver and gold baby rattle. She smiled. The Marauders had bought it for her mother when Rose was born as a joke. She put that down and went to a table holding only a single Muggle tape. She tapped it twice with her wand, and a projection folded out into the middle of the air. Rose settled down on the couch to watch.  
  
It was the day before Halloween. She was six and Harry was one. The day before Voldemort came.  
  
A six-year-old Rose was sitting on the couch reading. James Potter sr., Sirius, and Lupin were playing with Harry on the carpet. Lily Potter sr. and Sarah Black, Sirius's twin sister, were reading next to Rose.  
  
"Harry, say Padfoot," Sirius demanded. "Say Padfoot."  
  
"Stop it, Sirius," Lily said.  
  
"Sirius! Leave Harry alone!" his sister demanded.  
  
She put down the book, revealing long, thick black hair that cascaded all the way to her knees. Her eyes were pale blue and currently flashing annoyance at her brother.  
  
"Grow up, Padfoot," she said in disgust.  
  
"Pa foo," baby Harry said.  
  
Sirius laughed and changed into a dog, making Harry laugh.  
  
"Pet doggy! Pet doggy!" he demanded.  
  
Sirius in dog form came bounding up to Harry and licked his face, making Harry laugh again.  
  
"Sirius, you are so immature! Grow up!" his sister said.  
  
"Sirius Jonathon Black, you'd better not make my baby sick," Lily warned.  
  
"I wanna play with Harry," little Rose announced.  
  
She slid off the couch and pulled Sirius forcefully away from her brother. She picked up Harry and sat down with him on the couch.  
  
"Let's get you away from Uncle Sirius, hm?" she said.  
  
"Pa foo!" Harry said again.  
  
Lily looked at the camera. "Peter, turn it off."  
  
The picture stopped. Rose took a deep breath and picked up the next tape, labeled October 31, 1981. She tapped it.  
  
It was only her parents, Harry, herself, and Sarah there. Rose was playing with Sarah and Lily was playing with Harry. Her father was talking to Professor Dumbledore in the fireplace.  
  
"We'll be fine, Professor," he was saying. "Sirius is completely trustworthy. Nothing would make him betray us."  
  
"It's not him," Dumbledore said. "It's- oh, never mind."  
  
The head disappeared. James Potter went to play with Harry, transforming into a stag. Harry giggled.  
  
"Wide! Wanna wide!" he demanded.  
  
Lily rolled her eyes and lifted him up onto James's back. Harry grabbed onto the stag's antlers and James ran around the room a few times, Harry laughing madly.  
  
"James, give him here," Lily said.  
  
"Aw."  
  
He handed him to her. Just then, the door burst open.  
  
Rose shut her eyes tight. That was the problem with wizard tapes. They projected into your mind. She was still able to watch.  
  
"Sarah, Lily, go hide, I'll hold them off!" James called.  
  
Sarah grabbed Rose and Lily grabbed Harry. They split up in different directions.  
  
To Rose, it looked like she was watching multiple screens. She was watching Sarah carrying her into her room and watching her mother carry Harry into his nursery. A Death Eater went after Sarah, one stayed at the door, and Voldemort himself went to take care of Harry.  
  
Rose watched, horrified, as Lucius Malfoy murdered Sarah Black. He turned his wand on herself, next, but the curse rebounded, hitting Lucius in the forehead and knocking him unconscious. Rose was now watching Voldemort killing her mother. She blocked the picture and turned it off.  
  
"Why do I watch that?" she muttered to herself. "It always gets me shaken up for days.  
  
"So you'll learn to deal with it."  
  
She whirled. "Father!" she yelled.  
  
Severus Snape was standing next to the table holding her music box.  
  
"How did you get in here?" she demanded furiously.  
  
"Change your password more often."  
  
"I don't bother because everyone I know respects my privacy!"  
  
"That's nice." He sat down on the other end of the couch. "I wanted to check up on you."  
  
"Don't lie to a partial empath. Why are you here?"  
  
Rose and Harry had some of every Gold power.  
  
Snape gave his goddaughter the Death Stare. "I wanted to show you the Daily Prophet."  
  
He handed her the newspaper. She gasped at the headline.  
  
WITCH AND WIZARD FOUND MURDERED  
  
DARK MARK OVER HOUSE  
  
Beneath was a picture of a fairly large house with the Dark Mark floating over it. Rose glanced at her godfather in disbelief.  
  
"That's the Patils, is it?" she asked fearfully.  
  
He nodded.  
  
"Oh my God!"  
  
She read the rest of the article.  
  
"Early this morning, July thirtieth, two bodies were found in the house located at 193 Rowena's Haven. They are the bodies of Charlotte and George Patil. The cause of death is certain to be the Unforgivable Curse, Avada Kedavra. The Dark Mark was found over the house. The two who found the bodies happen to be none other than the pair's children, Padma and Parvati Patil. They had apparently been packing for a trip to a friend's house when they heard a loud bang and saw a flash of green light. They found the bodies of their parents lying on the floor, the door broken down."  
  
Rose looked away from the paper.  
  
"I'm going to get them," she said firmly.  
  
Snape didn't argue. He had learned that it was completely futile; she'd just set a few of his things on fire.  
  
"They're still at the house. The Ministry is interviewing them. So are about fifty other people."  
  
"I've got to get the others first."  
  
She disappeared with a loud pop.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Harry was admiring his Head Boy badge and Hermione was polishing away a spot on hers.  
  
"I want to see it!" Ron whined.  
  
"Go polish your prefect badge," Harry told him.  
  
He had to admit, he was sounding somewhat like Percy Weasly.  
  
"It is a great responsibility, Harry," he was saying soberly.  
  
He had been saying things like that for the past half hour. Harry had just been ignoring it.  
  
They suddenly heard a loud pop in the kitchen.  
  
"Who's there?" Fred called.  
  
"Me," Rose said, bustling into the sitting room. "Look at this."  
  
She tossed a newspaper to Harry.  
  
"When do we go?" he asked.  
  
"Now. Here's the Floo powder. It's Patil Manor."  
  
She held up a ceramic pot filled with Floo powder. Harry took a fistful and threw it into the fire. He stepped into it.  
  
"Patil Manor!" he said.  
  
He felt himself whooshing past dozens of other fireplaces, careful to keep his elbows in. He nearly fell over when he stopped.  
  
He was in a large sitting room. There were hundreds of people there in Ministry robes. Harry stepped out to look for the Patil twins' long, thick black hair.  
  
"Parvati?" he called. "Padma?"  
  
A Ministry member stopped him. "Who are you?"  
  
Harry casually brushed back his bangs, as if wiping sweat from his forehead. "Friend of the deceased," he explained. "I'm looking for their daughters, Padma and Parvati."  
  
The wizard's eyes widened as he saw the scar on Harry's head. Just then, the others came in.  
  
"Where are they?" Rose asked.  
  
"Who are all you people?"  
  
*Brush back your bangs,* Harry told his sister mentally.  
  
She did so. "We're friends of Padma and Parvati."  
  
"You're the Potters and the Weaslys, eh?" the man said. "They seemed quite anxious to see you. Don't have a Seamus Finnigan or a Dean Thomas, do ya?"  
  
"They haven't been notified yet. Where are they?"  
  
The Ministry man pointed at a shut door. Rose beat everyone else to it and knocked.  
  
"Come in," one twin's voice said.  
  
Rose turned the handle and pushed it open.  
  
"Padma?" she said gently. "Parvati?"  
  
"Oh, hello," Padma said weakly.  
  
She was sitting on a chair, her sister's arm around her neck. Both twins' faces were stained with tears.  
  
"We've been waiting for you," Parvati said.  
  
"I read about it in the Prophet," Rose explained. "I'm so sorry."  
  
"Thanks. We've been trying to find some close relative somewhere for us to stay with."  
  
"Where will you be staying until then?"  
  
"Here, I suppose."  
  
Rose looked horrified. "Do you want to stay here?!"  
  
"No," Parvati said. "But we don't have any close relatives."  
  
"You've got lots of friends," Rose said. "We'd be happy to take you."  
  
"Do you have enough room for any more?" Padma asked.  
  
"Of course," Rose said. "My in-laws are the Weaslys. My guest rooms are therefore uncountable."  
  
The twins smiled. "How soon can we leave?"  
  
"Where are your things?"  
  
*~*~*  
  
They had the Patils situated in about half an hour. Rose served everyone a large lunch.  
  
"How's your summer been going?" Parvati asked. She was desperately trying to be cheerful.  
  
"We met the woman from the Department of Magical Games and Sports who's going to watch us this year. She's looking for recruits for the British team."  
  
"How'd the Cup go?"  
  
"America won!!!"  
  
From the Bernards, of course. They were pretty close friends with the Patils.  
  
"That's great."  
  
"Want to stay with us?" Ally asked.  
  
"Where are you staying?"  
  
"Fred and George's."  
  
"Cool! We're there!"  
  
The Bernards grabbed the Patils' suitcases and Flooed to the Weaslys'. The Patils followed.  
  
"I swear, those girls are miracle workers," Rose said.  
  
Harry agreed.  
  
"It took me weeks to get over my parents," Hermione said.  
  
"I'm going to my room, okay?" Rose said.  
  
"What's wrong?" Ginny asked.  
  
Harry could tell something wasn't right, too. He was partially empathic. He had also gotten to know his sister very well.  
  
"Just a little headache."  
  
"All right," Ginny said doubtfully.  
  
Rose climbed the stairs to her and Bill's room.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Rose curled into a tiny ball on her bed. She hadn't been telling the whole truth. She did have a headache. But it wasn't exactly little.  
  
She pressed her fingers to her temples, willing the excruciating pain in her head to go away. It didn't.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione listened for the sound of the Patils' shoes on the steps to the house to die away.  
  
"Are they gone yet?" Ron whispered loudly.  
  
"Shh!" the others hushed him.  
  
"Yes, they are!" Hermione said.  
  
"Where's Hedwig?" Ginny asked.  
  
"In my room," Harry whispered back.  
  
"Come on!"  
  
The four tiptoed to Harry's room and opened the door to Hedwig's cage. She hooted gratefully. Ginny snatched up a piece of parchment from Harry's desk and a quill and began a quick note.  
  
Dean and Seamus-  
  
We've got the Patils and if you ever want to see them again Floo to Potter House at six tonight. Aren't we funny! ;-)  
  
The Potters and the Weaslys  
  
Ginny pulled out her wand and duplicated the letter, than gave one to Hedwig and the other to Harry's phoenix, James, who was also in the room. Harry had trained him to carry letters.  
  
"Hedwig, this one's for Seamus, James, this is for Dean," Ginny told the two birds as she tied the letters to their feet.  
  
Hedwig hooted and James whistled. They flew out the window together.  
  
"I'm going to the library," Hermione announced.  
  
"Me too," Ginny said.  
  
The boys stared at her.  
  
"What?" she said. "I'm the only Hogwarts student ever to skip a year. I have to have some preparation for seventh year."  
  
"Oh," Harry said, relieved. "For a second there I thought you were going over to the Bookworm's side."  
  
"Be careful, cousin," Hermione said, smacking him lightly on the arm. "I've got the highest Standard Book of Spells currently available and I've got it memorized. So watch your back."  
  
"Save me!" Harry said.  
  
Hermione smacked him again and skipped down the stairs to the library.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Dean and Seamus arrived that night. Padma and Parvati were thrilled. Rose complained that she needed to build an entire new wing of the house to accommodate all the guests. Everyone ignored her. She had been rather cranky for a while now.  
  
At least, they ignored her until sometime in late August.  
  
They were all getting ready to shop for their school supplies. The girls, Ginny, Hermione, Padma, and Parvati had all gathered in Hermione's large room to "prepare."  
  
"We have to look our best," Parvati explained. "This is our last year. We have to make a lasting impression on the minds of our peers."  
  
"Do you think I need to lose weight?" Hermione asked.  
  
"No!" Ginny assured her.  
  
"Mione, analyze me," Padma pleaded.  
  
"Okay," Hermione agreed.  
  
Padma stood in front of the mirror and turned slowly.  
  
"Well, your hair is getting a little out of control. I know a few good charms to take care of that. One of the Bernards can do them. You have a nice figure, a nice face, you're basically set."  
  
"What about me?" Padma asked.  
  
"What do you think? You're identical."  
  
"Do me," Ginny said.  
  
"Okay."  
  
Ginny copied Padma and turned in front of the mirror.  
  
"You have a good figure, and your arms look perfectly muscled. Not too much, not too little."  
  
"Hello. I play Quidditch."  
  
"Point taken. Let's see.your nose is nice, eyes a good color, mouth good. Your hair's a perfect color, but it's starting to split at the ends."  
  
"Really? Oh no!"  
  
"The Bernards are really good at doing hair. They do makeup, too. You should use some; your face is getting kind of pale."  
  
"Is that it?"  
  
"That's it. Do me."  
  
"All right," Ginny said awkwardly.  
  
She watched Hermione turn in front of the mirror.  
  
"Your hair is still a little bushy, but I know a few people who could fix that. You've got the Evans nose, so it is therefore perfect, you have a perfect figure, and as I said, you do NOT need to lose weight. You use makeup, so your face looks perfect."  
  
"So a haircut and makeup for Ginny, and a new hairdo for Mione. Let's go get clothes!"  
  
The girls cheered and dove into the pile of robes on the floor. In the end, they decided to match. They each wore short jean shorts and a low-cut, strapless tank top. The tank tops were all in different colors. Padma's was blue with orange stripes, Parvati's was red with yellow stripes, Ginny's was white with black stripes, and Hermione's was spring green with pink stripes. They were wearing island-style sandals.  
  
Once they had finished dressing, they went to find Alex and Ally. They were, for once, away from Fred and George.  
  
"Can you make us pretty?" Parvati asked breathlessly. They had run down the stairs rather quickly.  
  
"If you mean hair and makeup, sure," Ally said.  
  
"I'll do Hermione and Padma," Alex said.  
  
"Then I'll do Ginny and Parvati," Ally said.  
  
They did Hermione and Ginny first. Ginny watched Alex working on Hermione's hair. First she brushed through and washed it out. Then she grew it out about three inches and put lots of Sleakeazy's on it. The last thing she did was go through it and curl it all into perfect ringlets. She put makeup on her and painted her nails with alternating spring green and pink stripes.  
  
Ginny gasped. "Mione, you look awesome!"  
  
"You're done," Ally said in a singsong voice.  
  
Ginny looked in the mirror and was shocked at what she saw.  
  
Her hair wasn't down to her waist anymore. It went to the middle of her back. It looked a little lighter, too. It wasn't in ringlets, but it was curling softly. She was wearing makeup and alternating black and white nail polish.  
  
The Patils gasped when they saw them.  
  
"Ohmigosh you two look awesome!" they shrieked.  
  
"Your turn," Alex said, grinning.  
  
The twins ran over. Ginny and Hermione laughed.  
  
"Let's go find the boys," Hermione said.  
  
It didn't take long. They were lounging around the sitting room, doing last- minute homework.  
  
"Hello, Harry," Ginny said.  
  
"Hello, Ron," Hermione said at the same time.  
  
The boys looked up from their parchment and gaped.  
  
"Bloody hell, Hermione!" Ron said. "Who did that?"  
  
"The Bernards," she said smugly, sliding onto his lap. "Do you like it?"  
  
"I love it!"  
  
"Your hair looks really good like that, Ginny," Harry said. "They did your makeup, too?"  
  
"Yeah. They're really good. I'm going to find Rose and show her. Wonder if she wants it too." She turned to leave, and then remembered something. "Oh, Dean, Seamus. They're doing the same thing to Padma and Parvati."  
  
They scrambled off the couch and ran to the room Ginny had come from.  
  
Ginny laughed.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Harry was still staring at his girlfriend.  
  
I am the luckiest guy in the world, he thought. She's smart, she's cute, she's fun, she's cute, she's skilled, she's cute, she's powerful, she's cute, she's kind, she's cute, she's empathic, and she's cute.  
  
He snapped out of it. Ginny was saying she was going to find Rose. The mention of Harry's sister made his scar hurt. He almost rubbed it, but then realized that Ginny would notice and ask.  
  
"Okay," he heard himself say.  
  
Ginny went to the library to find Rose.  
  
Harry suddenly noticed that the twins were crying. Apparently, they had woken up from their nap. He went to get them.  
  
The two babies looked up at him with their identical green eyes so much like their mother's and his own. Those eyes creeped him out sometimes. He hoped that his kids would have blue eyes, like their mum.  
  
He mentally shook himself and picked up the twins. They still kept crying.  
  
Funny, Harry thought. They really can pick up on how you feel. And right now, Harry's scar was itching and he was getting a bad feeling again. The last time he'd gotten that feeling, it was when Lord Voldemort had kidnapped Bill, Rose, James and Lily. He quickly walked back to the sitting room with the twins in his arms.  
  
The others looked uneasy, too. The newly made up twins were rubbing the kneecap they had broken when they were young. The Bernards were nervously tapping things.  
  
Ginny came rushing back into the room.  
  
"She's unconscious!" she cried.  
  
They followed Ginny back to the library, where they found Rose unconscious on one of the chairs. Bill picked her up easily.  
  
"She's lost too much weight," he said grimly.  
  
He lifted up her shirt a little, revealing the fact that her hip bones were showing and so was her entire ribcage.  
  
"Come on. We have to get her to St. Mungo's."  
  
They silently followed him.  
  
*~*~*  
  
The St. Mungo's doctors announced that Rose was in a coma an hour later, then told them she was not going to come back anytime soon.  
  
They ignored this not-so-subtle hint and kept pestering the doctors until they were thrown out. They glumly shopped for their school supplies, glumly agreed to spend the remaining week of the summer at the Weaslys, and glumly boarded the Hogwarts Express on September 1.  
  
Neville had decided to join them in their compartment.  
  
"Guess what I heard?" he said eagerly. "I heard that there's a new girl."  
  
That got everyone's attention.  
  
"Where's she from?"  
  
"Do you know her name?"  
  
"What year is she in?"  
  
"Her name is Jessica Katherine Rawson. She's sixteen, so she's a sixth year. Transferred from Durmstrang."  
  
"She's a Slytherin," Harry said immediately.  
  
"Duh," Dean said.  
  
"Shut up, Dean!" everyone chorused.  
  
"Hey, where are Mione and Ron?" Ginny asked, suddenly realized that the two loudest in that particular cheer weren't there.  
  
"I dunno," Seamus shrugged.  
  
"Do you want to go look for them?" Harry asked Ginny.  
  
"Sure. You want to come?"  
  
"Okay."  
  
They walked out of the car quietly and went to the second to last car.  
  
"Thanks, Gin," Harry sighed.  
  
"They were starting to annoy me, too." Ginny sighed too. "I miss her, Harry. It seems so strange without her coming with us for our first day."  
  
"I know."  
  
Harry pulled his girlfriend into a hug. Ginny felt her heart beating faster and faster as he held her close. She looked up at him, suddenly realizing how tall he had become, though still shorter than her brothers.  
  
He brought her lips down onto hers and they kissed.  
  
Unknown to them, a certain other couple were doing the same thing in the last car.  
  
::cough cough Ron Hermione!::  
  
*~*~*  
  
The rest of the trip to Hogwarts passed without event, unless you count Neville throwing up his vomit-flavored Bertie Bott's.  
  
Harry waved to Hagrid as he swung down off the train, Ginny on his arm. The other boys stared at him, amazed. Harry imagined they were thinking, Who's that with Potter? She looks a little like a Weasly, but hot dang, she got a makeover.  
  
She smiled at Harry and kissed him briefly on the lips.  
  
"This year is going to be really fun, Harry," she whispered.  
  
He escorted her to the carriages. Hermione and Ron got into the same one. They talked about the rumors they had heard about this Jessica Katherine Rawson.  
  
"Colin Creevey saw him," Ron said. "He says she's got brown hair and gray eyes."  
  
"Sounds like a Slytherin," Harry said.  
  
"Don't be prejudiced," Hermione told him.  
  
"Okay."  
  
They sat in silence until they got to the Great Hall. There was a great buzz as the new students came in.  
  
"That has got to be her," Ginny muttered to Harry, discreetly nodding at a taller girl than the rest, obviously sixteen or fifteen.  
  
The Sorting began.  
  
"Joseph Atwood!"  
  
"RAVENCLAW!"  
  
"Kristina Bowerty!"  
  
"GRYFFINDOR!"  
  
"Emily Crotchet!"  
  
"HUFFLEPUFF!"  
  
"Malcolm Detts!"  
  
"SLYTHERIN!"  
  
On and on it went, until finally.  
  
"Jessica Rawson!"  
  
The tall brunette nervously stepped forward and placed the hat on her head. It seemed to be thinking hard, but then a sudden realization reached it and it said-  
  
"SLYTHERIN!"  
  
Scattered applause was heard. None from the Gryffindor table. Dumbledore stood up for his yearly announcements.  
  
"I would like to welcome you back to Hogwarts for the 1997-1998 school year!" Dumbledore said. "I have a list of this year's prefects and Heads, and here they are. Please come forward when your name is called. Our Hufflepuff prefects will be Justin Finch-Fletchley and Hannah Abbott. For Ravenclaw, Terry Boot and Padma Patil. For Gryffindor, Ron Weasly and Virginia Weasly. For Slytherin, Dudley Durseley and Erin O'Connell."  
  
The Gryffindors gaped at Dudley. Really, everyone did. He was actually thin. Well, not thin, just he didn't require two chairs anymore. Erin looked pleased with herself.  
  
"And lastly, our new Heads, Hermione Granger and Harry Potter."  
  
The Gryffindors clapped furiously. There was moderate applause from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, but none from Slytherin. Harry saw Hermione beaming and smiled a bit himself.  
  
"And please let me introduce Ms. Daniela Johansen from the Department of Magical Games and Sports. She will be watching the Quidditch teams perform, looking for recruits for the British team. And finally, let me introduce Ms. Jessica Katherine Rawson, who has just transferred here from Durmstrang. Please make her feel welcome. Now, I am sure you have now gotten tired of my idle talk and would like to eat!"  
  
The plates suddenly filled with food and the students dug in. There wasn't much worthy to discuss.  
  
After dinner, Professor McGonagall came to show them the newly built Prefect House. The entrance to it was a statue of the four Hogwarts founders.  
  
"Password?" Rowena Ravenclaw asked.  
  
"Selamin," Professor McGonagall said.  
  
The statue stepped aside, revealing a huge common room with an arched ceiling. There were overstuffed couches for each person, with a blanket in their house colors and labeled with their name. There was a door in one corner marked Library. McGonagall explained that that wasn't the main library; it was a personal one, a copy of a private collection in Hogsmeade. Harry smiled, knowing exactly whose collection it was.  
  
There was a spiral staircase leading up to their rooms. The doors were labeled with their names, houses, and year. Inside there was a king-sized four-poster bed, a desk, walk-in closet, personal bathroom, and dresser. The entire room was decorated in your house color.  
  
The bathroom was the size of a small Muggle rec center. There was a bath tub the size of a swimming pool ten feet deep at the deepest and one at the shallowest, complete with high dive. Harry was amazed.  
  
After looking around his room a bit and putting away his things, he went down to the common room to just sit for a while.  
  
The only person also there was Ginny. She was sitting on a couch close to the fire, her blanket spread over her knees. She was staring at the merrily dancing flames.  
  
"Gin?" Harry said softly.  
  
She started. "Oh, hello Harry. I didn't know you were down here."  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
"How did you know?"  
  
"You're not the only empath around here."  
  
"That's right."  
  
She curled up a bit more. "I'm worried about my brothers."  
  
Harry sat down on the couch next to her and put a comforting arm around her shoulders. "Which?"  
  
"All of them. I'm worried for Bill because of Rose. He's been really depressed ever since then. I'm worried about Ron because of his annoying tendency to get into trouble, like Voldemort trouble. I'm worried about the twins and Charlie just because, well, something just doesn't feel right. And I'm worried about Percy because he's starting to really reach some high levels at the Ministry. He's getting really.power-hungry. It scares me. You know he's running for Minister of Magic against Daddy?"  
  
"No, I didn't."  
  
"Well, he is. And he's starting to completely forget about his family. He never comes home anymore. He's moved in with his fiancé, Penelope Clearwater. I'm afraid he's going to go over to Voldemort, Harry," she whimpered.  
  
He pulled her onto his lap. "It's all right, Gin. I'll always be here for you to talk to."  
  
"Oh, isn't this sweet," a cold voice said from behind them. "Potty and his little Weasel girlfriend."  
  
Harry went pale. He'd recognize that voice anywhere. It was his sister's archenemy, Erin O'Connell. He knew before he turned around that her dark red crew cut would be tucked behind her ears, her brown eyes would be glaring at them, she would have her hand on Dudley's elbow, and she would have a smirk to rival a Malfoy's on her face.  
  
"What do you want, O'Connell?" Harry struggled to control the anger in his voice.  
  
"Just a little favor," she said. She leaned close to his ear and whispered, "Stay away from me and Dudley and any other Slytherin. Don't come near us. If you need us, we'll find you." She smirked again. "Bye-bye." She gave a sarcastic little wave and followed Dudley up to his room.  
  
"Ooh, I hate her!" Ginny said furiously.  
  
Harry stared at her eyes. "You know, when you're mad, your eyes go from brown to blue?"  
  
She put her hand to her eye self-consciously. "Really?"  
  
"Don't worry. It looks beautiful."  
  
She brought her mouth up to his and their lips connected.  
  
Ron and Hermione watched from the little balcony above the prefect commons, smothering laughs.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Ginny turned out to be taking Divination with Harry. He explained to her Trelawney's habit of predicting his death.  
  
"How long do you think it'll take her this time?" Ron muttered to Harry.  
  
"I bet five Galleons it'll take ten minutes or less," Harry said.  
  
"No way. Fifteen," Ron said.  
  
"I bet thirteen," Ginny said assuredly.  
  
Ron rolled his eyes and privately said to Harry, *One of us has five Galleons already, and it's not Ginny.*  
  
*I heard that! Ronald Weasly-*  
  
*I know, I know.*  
  
Professor Trelawney glided into the room.  
  
"Welcome back to another year," she said. "I perceive that some of you have had quite tragic summers."  
  
She looked meaningfully at Parvati, Ron, Ginny, and Harry. Harry, Ron and Ginny rolled their eyes.  
  
*Like, who doesn't know about Parvati's parents? And Rose was all over the papers!*  
  
"I am also afraid that some of you will also have quite unfortunate years."  
  
She glanced at the four again. Parvati looked horrified, but the other three just rolled their eyes again.  
  
*Duh,* Ron said.  
  
"We will begin the year with tarot card reading. Here are your cards. There are instructions on how to use them enclosed under several cards."  
  
She distributed decks of tarot cards with the Hogwarts crest on the back to every student. Harry began searching through the deck looking for the instructions. They were under the thirteenth card.  
  
Professor Trelawney noticed and looked grim. "I feared that it was you that might receive that particular deck," she said softly.  
  
Harry rolled his eyes at Ron and Ginny. Parvati and Lavender gave him a Look.  
  
Harry began shuffling the deck and laying them out in the order shown on his instructions sheet. Professor Trelawney, who was still watching, came over.  
  
"Let your Inner Eye guide you."  
  
Harry's Inner Eye was obviously nearsighted, as Trelawney looked rather annoyed and snatched his deck.  
  
"I will show you."  
  
She quickly reshuffled the deck of cards and skillfully began laying them out on the table. She turned over the first card with great drama, and gasped at what she saw.  
  
"Death," she whispered.  
  
Ron accidentally lost control and let out a snort of laughter. Professor Trelawney glared at him and went to the next table. Ginny glanced at the clock.  
  
"Thirteen minutes! You two owe me five Galleons!"  
  
Harry started reshuffling his deck and started doling out his cards to try again. He drew the first card and nearly dropped it.  
  
"What is it?" Ginny asked.  
  
Of course. She had felt the emotion. He showed her the card. It was a picture of a seated Unisus with the name Ailes written under it.  
  
"What does it mean?" he asked Ron, who had his book open.  
  
Ron checked the page, and then double-checked. He looked up at Harry with wide eyes.  
  
"It's not part of the deck," he whispered. "Harry, I think you may actually be telling what's happening with Rose."  
  
Harry drew the next card. It was a skull and crossbones.  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"Illness."  
  
"Well, that's right then."  
  
The next card was a picture of a hawk with the name Greywing under it. That was Hermione's name and her favorite Animagus. The fourth card was medicine. The fifth was another Unisus with the name Ailes under it, but this one was dancing. The sixth card was a whole group of animals, magical and non-magical, dancing around the Unisus. The name under it was Order. The next card was a rat with the name Wormtail under the picture. The eighth card was Deceit. The cards went on like that for a while.  
  
The second-to-last card was Attack. Harry glanced at his friends and reached for the final card.  
  
The bell rang.  
  
"Aw," Ginny moaned.  
  
"Come on, it'll take us forever to get to Transfiguration," Ron said, pulling Harry's arm.  
  
They ducked down from the trap door and ran all the way to Transfiguration. Harry wished he knew how to stop time; there were two minutes until the late bell rang and they still had six levels to go.  
  
When they got to McGonagall's classroom, no one else was there, not even the Professor.  
  
"What just happened?" Ginny said, looking around. "Why hasn't the bell rang, and where is everyone?"  
  
Harry looked around. Suddenly two short, blonde figures came running into the classroom.  
  
"Alex? Ally?" Ron said, staring at them.  
  
"Yeah," Alex said. "Who do you know who can control time?"  
  
Harry tried to recall who was the Gold who could mess with time?  
  
"Oh!" he said suddenly. "So it was you!"  
  
"Actually, you helped. You were wishing to stop time quite desperately; I just helped you."  
  
"Why are you here?"  
  
"You are just like your sister, you know that?"  
  
"ALEX! Why are you two here?"  
  
"Okay, okay! We're trying to figure out how to save Rose."  
  
Harry's heart nearly stopped. "Save?"  
  
"Yes," Ally said softly. The gentler of the two. "Save. Her vitals are starting to slip. Slowly, but still dropping. The doctors estimate that if it stays at this rate, she'll be gone in two weeks." 


	2. The Halloween Ball

See, spacegirl? I don't completely hate cheese fries.  
  
Meet Scat, my writing inspiration and best friend.  
  
(o o) | ~~~  
  
Lost in Darkness  
  
Chap. 2: The Halloween Ball  
  
Neville Longbottom was running down a corridor of Hogwarts, trying to escape Dudley Durseley, his girlfriend Erin O'Connell, and henchmen Crabbe and Goyle. They had decided to pick on him a bit, and it had gone into fists. Neville had run.  
  
Not that it helped him much. O'Connell was an intelligent red-haired girl who was excellent at casting curses. And she was a very good athlete.  
  
Neville reached the bathrooms. He slowed. The girls' bathroom! He'd get in trouble if anyone saw him there, for sure, but he'd only get detention. That was sure better than what the Slytherin King and Queen and their bodyguards would do to him if they caught him. He ducked inside.  
  
No one followed. He breathed a sigh of relief, and then stopped. Was that someone crying?  
  
He listened carefully. It was. A girl's soft sobs were coming from behind the door of a toilet marked Out of Order. Neville pushed the door open.  
  
He saw a tall brunette girl sitting on the toilet with her head in her hands. She looked up at Neville, revealing her Slytherin badge. Neville stepped back before noticing her red eyes and the tearstains on her cheeks.  
  
She seemed as afraid of him as he was of her. She scrambled up onto the seat and clung to the wall.  
  
"Who are you?" she asked fearfully.  
  
"Neville Longbottom."  
  
"This is a girls' toilet. Get out."  
  
"I can't."  
  
Despite her fear, she seemed curious. "Why?"  
  
"The King and Queen of Slytherin were chasing me with their bodyguards in tow."  
  
She sat back down on the toilet. "What did you do to them?"  
  
"Nothing. They just hate me because I'm terrible at almost all my classes."  
  
She stopped looking frightened. "They were after me because I'm horrible at Potions. They say no Slytherin is true unless they are good at Potions."  
  
"I'm horrible at Potions, too. I'm horrible at everything, really. Except Herbology."  
  
"I'm terrible at Herbology." She started to stammer. "D-do y-y-y-you th- think y-you couldhelpme?" She finished the sentence in a rush.  
  
Neville was surprised. No one had ever wanted his help before, at anything. He made an executive decision.  
  
"If you help me in my other classes, I'll help you in Herbology."  
  
"Deal."  
  
They shook hands.  
  
"What's your name?" Neville asked.  
  
"Jay."  
  
"Jay?"  
  
"It's short for Jessica. Jessica Katherine Rawson."  
  
It was Neville's turn to scramble onto the seat. "You're the Durmstrang transfer!"  
  
"I transferred because I hated it there!"  
  
"Oh." He climbed down. "So, how about tonight at seven?"  
  
"Sure. But let's keep this a secret, okay? I'd be dead if King Dudley, Queen Erin and army found out I was helping a Gryffindor."  
  
"I'd be dead if King Harry, Queen Ginny and friends found out I was helping a Slytherin. Deal."  
  
They parted.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Harry kept thinking about what Alex had said all through his other classes. He couldn't concentrate. His teachers commented on it and his friends did, too. He kept thinking about Rose lying in a hospital bed, slowly dying and no one knew what was wrong with her, let alone the cure. He couldn't bear to lose her. He had known her only a few years, but he felt as if he had lost a part of himself.  
  
And in truth, he had. For as Rose was part of the Gold connection, they were technically a part of each other. Her and Harry's connection was especially close, as they were brother and sister and their parents had used a rare and difficult spell to bind the two especially close.  
  
Harry tried once again to talk to his sister's dream state of mind. It didn't work, of course. He just felt a sort of.void, as if her soul was gone. He sighed.  
  
"Harry?"  
  
He snapped back to attention. Ginny was shaking his shoulder.  
  
"Harry, the bell rang two minutes ago."  
  
"Okay. I'll meet you at dinner."  
  
Ginny nodded and ran to catch up with Hermione, her back slung over her shoulder. Harry gathered his bags and ran to his room. He grabbed his Invisibility Cloak and slipped it on. He was going for a visit with Bill.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Bill and Sirius were feeding the twins while they were bickering about who was the best Quidditch team in England when Harry took off his cloak in the middle of the kitchen.  
  
"Harry, you could get in so much trouble if you get caught," Sirius said.  
  
Harry rolled his eyes. This coming from a Marauder?  
  
"Like you never snuck out of school grounds? I wanted to look through something in the library."  
  
"Why do you need to? There's an exact copy in your common room."  
  
"Not exact. The Potter/Evans Family Tree isn't in my library."  
  
He descended the stairs into the private library. He knew exactly where the book his mother wrote was. He had memorized the spot long ago.  
  
Harry grabbed the book out of the shelf and flipped to the page on his sister.  
  
"Rosemary "Rose Lily" Lillian Potter. Also known as Ailes. Rose is the daughter of James Potter sr. and Lillian Potter sr. She is married to William Weasly and has two children, twins, a boy and a girl, named after her parents. She has vivid green eyes that flash violet when she is angry. She has wavy auburn hair like her mother. Her closest relations other than her daughter and son are her brother, Harry Potter, and her cousin, Hermione Granger. She is most afraid of losing one close to her. Unfortunately, Harry and Hermione are in serious danger of losing Rose. She is in St. Mungo's, comatose, without sure diagnosis."  
  
Harry slammed the book shut. Completely useless. Time for plan B. When in doubt, always go for the bookworms.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Hermione and Ginny were doing their Arithmancy homework together.  
  
"What's this?" Ginny asked, pointing to a symbol on the page.  
  
"Look on page 216," Hermione said absently.  
  
Hermione turned back to her homework, but there was a hand on the page. She looked up angrily.  
  
"Harry!"  
  
"I need you to help me with something."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Is there a potion that can cure comas?"  
  
"Yes but the ingredients are rather hard to acquire."  
  
"What's it called?"  
  
"The Darneywort Drink. It's in Most Potente Potions, volume three. But."  
  
Harry was already on his way to the library.  
  
*~*~*  
  
"Let's see.volume one.volume two.volume.four!"  
  
Volume three was missing. Harry turned back and looked through again. It still wasn't there.  
  
"Crap!"  
  
"Looking for something?"  
  
Harry whirled.  
  
Erin O'Connell was holding volume three of Most Potente Potions in the air, smirking.  
  
"Give it here, O'Connell," Harry said angrily.  
  
She shook her finger at him. "Patience is a virtue."  
  
"One which you do not possess," someone said from the door.  
  
Hermione and Ginny had their wands out and were pointing them at O'Connell's chest. O'Connell scowled and threw the book at Harry. He caught it neatly in the air, being a Seeker. Her scowl deepened and she pushed the girls out of the way and flounced up to Dudley's room.  
  
Harry opened the book to the index in the back. Hermione and Ginny leaned over his shoulder.  
  
"There it is!" Ginny said, pointing at a page number.  
  
Harry used a little magic to find the page extra fast. Hermione apparently noticed as she poked him in the shoulder.  
  
"Evil rather than good."  
  
Harry remembered Rose saying that, years and years ago. He ignored her and kept flipping.  
  
He looked through the ingredients. The list was rather short, but.interesting.  
  
"See what I said about being hard to acquire?" Hermione said desperately.  
  
She was right. Although there were only five ingredients, the first was feather of phoenix, the second was wing clipping of a Unisus, the third was a memory of the sick person from when they were young, the fourth was the blood of a healer, and the fifth was the flesh of a relative, brother, sister or parent preferred.  
  
"Ugh," Harry said.  
  
"They're all really hard to get," Ginny moaned, biting her lip. "Phoenixes don't take too kindly to having a feather plucked. Unisi are rare enough as is, and they don't particularly like having their wings clipped. I don't know many people who have a memory of Rose from when she was young that they want to give up."  
  
"I only know one healer," Hermione said, shuddering. "It has to be a full healer, one with only the healing powers. And I also know only one brother, sister or parent of Rose."  
  
They looked at Harry.  
  
"I'd give up my head if it would help her," he said determinedly.  
  
Ginny had a thought that she accidentally let slip. Harry smiled at it.  
  
*Oh that is so sweet!*  
  
Hermione obviously heard it too, judging from the look on her face.  
  
"When can we start working on it?" Ginny said.  
  
"Anytime. Just let's stay away from Moaning Myrtle this time," Harry said.  
  
"Sure. Harry, where's your map? There's sure to be someplace on there we can brew it."  
  
"Rose replaced it for my birthday since Crouch took it."  
  
He pulled out a "new and improved" Marauder's Map created by Moony, Lupin, Padfoot and Ailes.  
  
"There's another passageway to Rose's room," Harry said, outlining a route with his finger. "Only, it's from our house."  
  
"Next Hogsmeade visit is right before the Halloween Ball," Ginny said. "So we'd need to go anyways."  
  
"It needs to brew for two months," Hermione said. "We can start it on Halloween and end it on New Year's Eve."  
  
"Perfect."  
  
"Now do your homework, Harry. But first, here. Ginny brought food from the house-elves for you."  
  
He took the plate Ginny held out gratefully. But the food, however, looked a bit odd.  
  
"What's this?"  
  
"Ginny wanted you to try them," Hermione said, rolling her eyes. "Cheeseburger and cheese fries."  
  
"Sounds good." He bit into a fry. "They are good!"  
  
"Oh no!" Hermione said, faking horror.  
  
"Oh, try one sometime, Mione."  
  
"I shall consider the possibility. Um.NO."  
  
Harry left for his room to do his homework.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Neville went down to the library nervously. He couldn't shake off the feeling that maybe, just maybe, Jay was going to come in with the King and Queen and the entire Slytherin army at her back and kill him.  
  
He shook off the feeling once he had seen Jay come in holding only some books and her wand.  
  
"You want to start with Charms?" she asked.  
  
"Sure," he said, shrugging.  
  
"I got a really good wand for charms work," she said cheerfully. She was a lot happier when she was away from the Slytherins. "Willow, ten and a half inches, pliable. Veela hair."  
  
"So it's not an Ollivander's then, is it?"  
  
"No. My family makes wands."  
  
"Cool!"  
  
"I suppose. If you don't have to carry dragon heartstrings around for people. They're really slimy."  
  
"Can you help me with this?" Neville asked, pointing to a paper he had to write on Flower Charms and how they could be useful.  
  
"Well, think about desert regions and different places where botany has trouble. Write as many paragraphs as you can on it, then just write bull."  
  
"Okay! I can do that! But how do you actually do a Flower Charm?"  
  
"Watch."  
  
She stood up and pointed her wand at a bookcase.  
  
"Bourgeons fleurissants!"  
  
The entire bookcase was covered in beautiful flowers of many kinds. Neville goggled.  
  
"Just see the wrist movement, kind of like the swish and flick. Just up, down, right, left, point."  
  
Neville tried. It looked to him like he was directing an orchestra.  
  
"That's really good! Now try the words, but not with the wand."  
  
"Brogans florescent."  
  
"Bourgeons fleurissants."  
  
"Bourgeons fleurissant."  
  
"It's 'fleurissants.'"  
  
"Bourgeons fleurissants."  
  
"Good! Now try it with the wand."  
  
Neville pointed his wand at the same bookcase and tried the wrist movement.  
  
"Bourgeons fleurissants!"  
  
The entire bookcase was instantly choked with weeds.  
  
"Try again."  
  
"Bourgeons fleurissants!"  
  
This time, he managed to halfway cover the bookcase with roses.  
  
"Very good! Another try and you'll have it."  
  
Neville gathered all the magic he could find and said, "Bourgeons fleurissants!"  
  
He covered the bookcase in multitudes of multicolored flowers.  
  
"Wow!" Jay said, impressed. "It took me six tries just to get the roses!"  
  
"Here, I'll help you with your Herbology."  
  
"All right. What's a Bretatober?"  
  
"Related to the Bubotober, but the pus isn't the valuable part. It's the leaves, which can be used to cure most comas."  
  
"Cool. How are they different?"  
  
"They're red and silver."  
  
"Interesting combination."  
  
"I know."  
  
They talked together all night.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Ginny woke up late the morning of October 15. She rolled over and brushed the curtains of her four-poster aside to check her clock.  
  
"Ten o'clock! Oh my God I'm so late for classes."  
  
She leaped out of bed and ran for her closet.  
  
"Forget something, Ginny?" Hermione said from the door.  
  
"Yes! Setting my alarm!"  
  
She was wildly pawing through clothes for her school uniform. Hermione came over and shut the door.  
  
"It's Hogsmeade day. The new rule?"  
  
"Oh. That's right. No classes on Hogsmeade days."  
  
"Help me pick clothes."  
  
Hermione held up some deep red robes. "How about this?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
Ginny snatched the robes and pulled them on quite fast. She was ready in half an hour, makeup, hair and all.  
  
"We're meeting the boys at the Golden Phoenix, right?" Ginny asked, referring to the Weasly's restaurant that had a candy/prank shop in the back.  
  
"Yes. Come on, we'll be late!"  
  
They ran down the stairs and just managed to catch the crowd heading for Hogsmeade. Ginny and Hermione met up with Padma and Parvati in Madame Malkin's.  
  
"The theme for the Halloween Ball is really cool, don't you think?" Parvati said, looking through a mound of robes. "The costume thing. We can dress up like absolutely anything."  
  
"I know. Harry and I are going as Romeo and Juliet," Ginny said.  
  
"Ron and I are going as Belle and the Beast after he turns back into a prince," Hermione said.  
  
"Dean and I are going as an Egyptian prince and princess," Padma said.  
  
"Seamus and I are the emperor and empress of Japan or China or one of those Oriental countries," Parvati said.  
  
"I heard Neville's got a date," Ginny said in her gossipy voice.  
  
"Ohmigod!" the other three girls said at the same time. "Who? What house?"  
  
"I saw Neville asking her. She looked like a sixth year. She had her books up so I couldn't see her house badge, but I can describe her perfectly. She's got brown hair that goes just past her shoulders. It's straight but curls a little at the ends. She's got grayish-green eyes and she's really tall. She's actually quite pretty."  
  
"Not as pretty as you are," Harry said from behind them.  
  
"Oh, hello, Harry," Ginny said. "Come help me pick our outfits."  
  
"Is that her?" Hermione muttered to Ginny, discreetly nodding at a girl standing with Neville.  
  
*Yeah, it is. Harry, Ron, Dean, Seamus, look, Neville and his date.*  
  
They all turned to look just as the girl turned towards them, revealing her house badge.  
  
*OH MY LORD! HE'S DATING A SLYTHERIN!* Harry exploded in their heads.  
  
Ginny heard Neville's and the girl's fear as they ran from the shop.  
  
"Harry, I know you felt how afraid they were."  
  
"I don't care," he hissed. "Traitor."  
  
"Come on Harry, look at these," Ginny said, ignoring the incredible anger of her boyfriend.  
  
"Whatever you say, Gin."  
  
She picked up the medieval costumes and paid at the counter. The other girls soon followed. They ran for the Phoenix.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Jay peered around the corner.  
  
"I think they're gone," she whispered to Neville.  
  
"Good."  
  
They crept back into Madame Malkin's and paid for their costumes.  
  
"Do you think they'll hex you, Neville?"  
  
"Probably not. Just stay away from that house on the edge of town. It's the King's and his cousin's."  
  
"Okay. Neville, what is all this rivalry for?"  
  
"Just tradition, I suppose. The rivalry between the founders has a lot to do with it."  
  
"But you're a Gryffindor. They're supposed to be brave. They're supposed to be willing to take risks."  
  
"I know. But apparently not everyone is able to."  
  
"Since when are you a philosopher?"  
  
"Since someone smart finally took an interest in me."  
  
"That's an extreme compliment."  
  
Jay leaned over and kissed Neville on the cheek, just a quick peck. Even so Neville felt a red flush rising up his neck. He noticed Jay was already red.  
  
She looked at him and they both cracked up.  
  
*~*~*  
  
"A Slytherin!"  
  
Harry banged his cup of butterbeer on the table at Fred and George.  
  
"Neville's dating a Slytherin? How? They all hate him!" Fred said.  
  
"Harry, they really liked each other," Ginny said.  
  
"I don't care!"  
  
"Harry!"  
  
Ginny slammed down her butterbeer and went to join some of her Hufflepuff friends.  
  
"Hurt her and I'll kill you and make it look like an accident," Ron, Fred and George all said at the same time.  
  
Harry slammed down his own mug and went to join some of the Ravenclaw boys.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Ginny didn't talk to him at all that night. He really was sorry for what he had said, and tried to take it back, but Ginny would go back to her throng of Hufflepuff girls every time he tried to talk to her.  
  
None of the Weasly brothers were helping, either. They all kept telling Harry to make up with her or they'd Avada him.  
  
Hermione was furious with him for upsetting her friend, so sided with her boyfriend. And Harry knew very well that she was perfectly capable of casting an Unforgivable.  
  
That's why he ended up in his room, doing his homework, locking charms on the door.  
  
But he couldn't concentrate. He kept thinking about his sister. He could still remember the time he had first met her face-to-face, when he had just ran away from his uncle's house.  
  
::Flashback::  
  
Harry woke up.  
  
He didn't know when he'd gone to sleep. It must have been after the voice had left.what had she called herself? Oh yeah, the Guardian.  
  
He sat up, expecting to feel pain shooting down various parts of him. Instead, he felt great. Better than he'd ever felt in his life. He looked at his arms and hands. There were no cuts or bruises. He felt his head. No blood, no pain. He looked at all the places where his uncle had hit him. Nothing. He didn't even have any dried blood from where the cuts had been.  
  
Then he remembered the incantation the Guardian had said. He immediately remembered their conversation. She was friends with Sirius! That must mean she was good. Now she had said he needed to ask Sirius about something.about her! She wanted him to ask Sirius about why he was helping her! Harry stopped. He noticed he had been thinking of the Guardian as a "her." He remembered something she had said: "Focus your thoughts on me and you will find me." He had thought she was just saying that he would be able to talk to her. But now he realized that she must have meant her physical being, her name and location. When Harry thought that last word, "location," he saw something happen.  
  
He was falling to the earth, from far above. His wings were flapping in the breeze. Then a hippogriff flew under him, with a dog on its back. The hippogriff caught him, and up righted him. He saw that he was looking at.himself! Surprised, he snapped out of the daydream. He opened his eyes and found he was looking at a silvery unicorn-Pegasus covered in cuts and bruises, with a large, black, shaggy dog on a hippogriff next to it. As he watched, the dog changed into a tall man with long, dirty black hair. "Sirius!" Harry yelled. He jumped up to hug him. When he sat back down, he noticed that the unicorn had also changed, into a tall redheaded girl. As soon as he saw the girl, he recognized her. She was the Guardian. He could feel it. But there was something else, too.  
  
The girl smiled. *That's right,* she said.  
  
Harry jumped. *You are the Guardian!*  
  
She smiled again. *Yep. And not only that.*  
  
Harry looked frustrated. *What?*  
  
*I think you already know.*  
  
Harry felt the girl digging through his mind, his memories being searched like a file folder. *What are you doing?* he asked, somewhat angrily.  
  
*Shut up! I'm trying to find it for you.* She screwed her face up in concentration. *Aha! There it is!*  
  
Harry felt a memory come to his mind. He was picturing a scene from when he was a baby. He was playing in his nursery, but there was another person there. A girl. A girl with red hair.  
  
He snapped out of the memory. He looked at the Guardian, ready to protest her invading his thoughts. It was then when he realized that the girl in the memory looked almost exactly like the Guardian. Then he knew.  
  
*You're my sister, aren't you?*  
  
She mentally snorted. *Nooo. I'm your fairy godmother. Duh. Rose Lily Potter. I look like Mum, but I've got Dad's eyes. Or so I'm told. All I know is that I have Mum's hair and face, and Dad's nearsighted blue eyes.*  
  
*You're the one who healed me.*  
  
*Right again. You saw me black out and fall from the injuries I transferred to myself.*  
  
*But how did you get away from.*  
  
*Voldemort? Ask Sirius. I'm tired of explaining.*  
  
*Would you please stop finishing my sentences?*  
  
"I hate to break up this little family reunion," Sirius said, "but we need to go."  
  
His voice had made both Harry and Rose jump. They had been so involved in each others' minds that they had completely shut out the outside world. "Sirius!" Harry protested. "Rose was just telling me how she got away from Voldemort!" Sirius responded, "She can finish at Hogwarts. We have to get there before your uncle finds you.with us." He looked grim. "You won't be able to withstand another beating. Your injuries were so bad the last time that Rose had barely enough power to heal them, especially after the problems she had had making contact. It would probably kill her if she healed you again, but if she broke the link, which is the only thing that lets her heal you, she would have another episode like the one in the cave. She couldn't survive another reaction like that."  
  
Harry almost asked what the difficulties were, until he looked through Rose's mind and found the memory of them. He shuddered. "I don't know how she stands one." he muttered to Sirius. "So how are we going to get to Hogwarts? Buckbeak won't be able to carry my trunk and Hedwig's cage."  
  
"Hedwig's cage isn't a problem," Rose responded. "Starsong can carry it." She whistled, and a phoenix grew out of a pebble on the ground. It hopped up onto her arm.  
  
Harry stared. "Where'd you get that?"  
  
Rose smiled. "I found her egg on the ground deserted when I was seven. I raised her, and in return she acts as my owl. Unfortunately, since she's so noticeable, she generally looks like a tawny." She winked. "The Honeydukes owners got tired of a giant phoenix showing up at their window with requests for candy."  
  
"But what do we do about my trunk?"  
  
"Starsong."  
  
"I don't think even a phoenix could carry that all the way to Hogwarts."  
  
Rose grinned evilly. "Who says we'll be flying the whole way?" She then produced three large handfuls of gillyweed. "Blech," Harry said. "I'm not too fond of the stuff myself," said Sirius. "But, fortunately, dogs are good swimmers." He promptly changed back into the dog. "I'll just fly," Rose said. She changed back into the Unisus. "But what about me?" Harry asked. "Gillyweed, right?" Rose changed back. "Not necessarily." She pulled out her wand. "Are you aware that the ability to be an Animagi is an inherited trait?" She muttered something, and Harry started to grow. He dropped to his hands, which he noticed were turning into hooves,  
  
Five minutes later, he was a stag.  
  
"Prongs rides again," she said, sadly smiling.  
  
::End Flashback::  
  
*Harry,* someone was crying. *Harry, can you hear me?*  
  
He started thinking about Rose again. That was almost exactly what she had said when he had first spoken back to her.  
  
*Yeah, yeah, I know. It was a sweet moment but LISTEN TO ME!!!*  
  
He jumped a foot in the air, smearing his Potions homework.  
  
*Rose?!*  
  
*Yes! Thank God I've finally gotten through to you!*  
  
*What the hell are you doing here?!*  
  
*Dream state.*  
  
*But I couldn't-*  
  
*I could.*  
  
*Will the potion work?*  
  
*Yeah, it'll work. But here's a tip: you need at least six square inches of skin for the 'flesh' part. And Hermione is still willing to help you, especially since I'm talking to her, too.*  
  
*Then why isn't she-*  
  
The door banged open. Hermione, Padma, Parvati, Ron, and Ginny were standing in the door.  
  
*-here.*  
  
*Got to go now. I'll visit you in a few dreams, how's that?*  
  
*But-*  
  
It was too late. She had left.  
  
"We start the potion on Halloween, as planned," Hermione said briskly. She strode out of the room, followed by Ron and the Patils. Ginny hesitated a moment before following.  
  
"Gin, wait."  
  
She stopped and turned around.  
  
"What do you want."  
  
"I'm sorry for what I said earlier. I really am."  
  
She looked him over with a critical eye. A critical brain, too.  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Gin, I love you. These past few hours have been, excuse the language, hell. I hated not being able to talk to you."  
  
She relaxed. "I was hoping you'd say that. I love you too."  
  
She ran over to him and gave him a quick kiss before swinging down the stairs.  
  
*~*~*  
  
The girls went crazy the night of Halloween.  
  
"What's that makeup spell?"  
  
"No! That polish so does not match my outfit!"  
  
"Where's my kimono?"  
  
"Has anyone seen my tiara?"  
  
They were finally ready around six, when they joined the boys, who had been ready for hours.  
  
"Ready, Mione?" Ron asked, offering his elbow, royalty style.  
  
"Ready, Ron. Let's go!"  
  
They proceeded down the stairs carefully, so as not to mess up their costumes.  
  
Hermione was Belle, wearing a puffy yellow skirt that trailed along the floor. The top had no sleeves and was sort of off the shoulder. It was a little low-cut. She had put her hair in a ponytail, but with a few curls brushing her shoulders.  
  
Ginny, as Juliet, was wearing a dark blue medieval gown with deep red and gold trim. She was wearing a small gold tiara with fake sapphires and rubies.  
  
Padma, who was Cleopatra or somebody, had on a white sleeveless dress that reached her ankles. She had informed everyone that it was called a chiton. It had little flat, round clasps holding the straps on. She was wearing gold and turquoise earrings with a matching metal headband. Her armband was gold with turquoise on the ends, and she wore sandals. She carried a single long, white lotus and had put on Egyptian makeup.  
  
Parvati was a Japanese empress and was wearing a red and gold kimono with a dragon design. She had those little clog-like sandals and had made up her face to make her look Japanese.  
  
They took seats next to each other at one of the many tables spread out around the room.  
  
"Where are Neville and his Slytherin girlfriend?" Ron hissed.  
  
"They're not here. Try the chicken," Hermione said, arranging her skirt on the chair.  
  
Ron grumpily looked at his plate and said, "Fried chicken."  
  
*~*~*  
  
"Are you ready?" Jay nervously asked Neville.  
  
"Ready as I'll ever be."  
  
They had decided to copy the King and Queen of Gryffindor and go as Romeo and Juliet, that practically being what they were.  
  
Jay was wearing a dress identical to Ginny Weasly's except it was forest green with silver trim. She had on a tight silver circlet on her head that peaked at the forehead and had a single emerald at the peak. She was wearing a matching necklace.  
  
Neville was wearing a scarlet jacket and pants with gold trim. They somehow matched perfectly.  
  
"Come on," he said, offering her his arm.  
  
She nervously took it and followed him into the Great Hall.  
  
The entire school noticed. They turned around in their seats and began to point and whisper. Some of the Slytherins even called rather unkind remarks at them.  
  
"Where can we sit?" Jay asked nervously.  
  
Neville noticed she was twisting her skirt between her fingers.  
  
"Only free seats are near the Princess Hermione and Prince Ron."  
  
"Not good. Well, it's better than King Dudley, Queen Erin and army."  
  
They tentatively sat down in the seats next to Hermione and Ron. Ron looked disgusted, but Hermione looked interested.  
  
"Hello," she said kindly to Jay. "Are you the new girl? What's your name again?"  
  
"Jessica Katherine Rawson," she squeaked. "But I like Jay better."  
  
"Jay," Ginny said thoughtfully. "Cool name. Certainly better than Ginny."  
  
"You have a nice name," Jay said. She seemed to be becoming more comfortable. "My parents named me for a Muggle author."  
  
"Really?" Hermione seemed really interested. "Are you Muggle-born?"  
  
"Yes," she said easily. She wasn't squeaking anymore. "My uncle was a wizard, though. But he died when I was seven."  
  
"I'm Muggle-born," Hermione said. "The magic in me comes from my aunt, Lily Potter sr."  
  
"So you're Harry's cousin?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Cool!"  
  
"What subjects are you good at?" Ginny asked.  
  
"All but Herbology and Potions. That's sort of how I met Neville."  
  
"How did you meet him?"  
  
"I was running from the King, Queen and bodyguards," she said, jerking her thumb towards Goyle, Crabbe, Durseley and O'Connell. "Neville happened to be, too and we hid in the same place. We introduced ourselves and started talking about what we were good at and what we were horrible at. We've been tutoring each other since the beginning of the year."  
  
"You're the transfer from Durmstrang, aren't you?" Padma said curiously.  
  
"Yes, I am. And before you say anything, I transferred because I got tired of this one Hogwarts transfer and his bodyguards threatening my constantly. You might know him Draco Malfoy."  
  
"Yes, we know him," Padma said with disgust. "Death Eater, Malfoy, Heir to Voldemort, a whole lot of money, Slytherin, and Erin O'Connell."  
  
"He really is evil."  
  
"Tell me about it."  
  
The boys still hadn't said anything to her. She figured they still weren't pleased with the Slytherin/Gryffindor pairing.  
  
Suddenly, to her surprise, Dean spoke to her.  
  
"Then you don't like Slytherin?"  
  
"No. As a matter of fact, I hate it. The people suck. I almost went into one of the other houses. But the hat said Slytherin would help me on the way to greatness."  
  
This seemed to catch Harry's attention. But Seamus had something else to say.  
  
"Which house?"  
  
"All. It said that as I only had one fear, I could go in Gryffindor. Then it noticed that I had nightmares about being put under Imperius and being forced to betray someone, so it said I would make a good Hufflepuff. Then it saw my grades and suggested Ravenclaw. Finally, it noticed how badly I wanted people to recognize my name and appreciate it, and how badly I wanted to be liked by everyone, and how terribly I wanted someone's love. And it said Slytherin would help me if I wanted power. So I went for Slytherin."  
  
She noticed everyone at the table was hanging onto her every word. Even the King and Prince. Then Harry spoke to her. King Harry actually said words to her.  
  
"It said Slytherin would help you on the way to greatness?"  
  
"Yes." She was amazed at how clear her voice was. "And I got snared. Little did I know what I was getting myself into."  
  
"They make fun of you?" Ron said.  
  
"That's an understatement. They ridicule me endlessly. Just watch me in Potions or Herbology."  
  
"Uh oh," Neville muttered.  
  
Jay turned to look at him. He nodded at the Slytherin Court, who was not looking too happy with her. In fact, they were looking murderous.  
  
Jay started to panic.  
  
"Um, I suppose some people might be mad if I stayed in the Gryffindor commons," she said.  
  
"Understatement," Seamus said.  
  
"You can stay in my room," Ginny said.  
  
"How far is it from the Slytherin prefects' rooms?"  
  
"Opposite ends of the house."  
  
"Sure."  
  
*~*~*  
  
Ginny had heard the panic and terror of the poor girl. She looked like she was Ginny's age.  
  
"So, Jay," she said casually, trying to calm her down. "How old are you?"  
  
"Sixteen."  
  
"So you're a sixth year?"  
  
"Seventh. Durmstrang students start a year earlier."  
  
"You know, I'm sixteen too."  
  
"But you're in seventh year!"  
  
"They skipped me because of all my O.W.L.s."  
  
"Cool."  
  
"It's really hard, though."  
  
"Whatever you say."  
  
"You two practically are Romeo and Juliet, you know that?"  
  
"Why'd you think we picked it?"  
  
Suddenly music started to play. Muggle music like the last two years, due to the popularity. Mostly Avril Lavigne, but with some Pink and A*Teens and S Club and Jessica Simpson.  
  
Right now, Breathless by The Corrs was playing.  
  
"Come on!" Hermione said, pulling Ron to his feet.  
  
Ginny and Harry copied them, followed by Neville and Jay, Dean and Padma, and Seamus and Parvati.  
  
Ginny smiled at Jay, who was slowly teaching Neville how to dance. She was doing well.  
  
*She'd make a good Hogwarts teacher,* she told the others.  
  
*Yeah. Have you noticed how much Neville's grades have gone up?*  
  
*Yeah. I don't get turned into anything unnatural during Transfiguration anymore.*  
  
*Ronald Weasly! That's not very nice!*  
  
They danced for literally three hours before collapsing into four chairs. Notice four for eight people.  
  
"I'm exhausted!" Ginny said.  
  
She had her arm around Harry, like the other girls. Neville had actually managed to dance properly after only half an hour.  
  
The boys went to get butterbeers, leaving the girls to chat with Jay.  
  
"Did you know Viktor Krum?" Parvati asked.  
  
Ginny winced at the mention of Hermione's cheating ex-boyfriend. Ron wasn't any fonder of him than Hermione was.  
  
"Yes," she said. "He dated my friend."  
  
"I know that friend. The one he dated while I was visiting him in Romania."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Back," Dean said.  
  
He and the other boys handed out the butterbeers and drank them thirstily. Dancing for that long was hard work.  
  
Suddenly Eminem's Lose Yourself started playing.  
  
"Come on," Jay said, pulling Neville to his feet.  
  
Ginny laughed at the two dancing quite energetically.  
  
"So, Harry, what you think of Jay now?" she said smugly. "I told you they really love each other."  
  
"Say it: The girls were right," Hermione smirked.  
  
"Okay! The girls were right."  
  
"Good. Now dance with me."  
  
"Sure, Gin."  
  
They stood up and started dancing again. Soon the slow dances started. Everyone got up and danced, although some left for the garden.  
  
Ginny looked up at Harry and they simultaneously got the same idea. They left for the garden.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Neville and Jay were slow-dancing in the middle of the room. Students were staring at them and whispering and pointing.  
  
Someone shouted, "Hey, you Slytherin bitch, get off the Gryffindor!"  
  
"Hey, Longbottom, why don't you dump the slut?"  
  
Neville got angrier and angrier with every insult. The last comment was enough.  
  
"Longbottom's got his match! Rawson's about ten times stupider than he is!"  
  
Neville grabbed Jay's hand and switched off the music. It came to a scratching stop.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Out in the garden, Harry and Ginny turned to the Great Hall to listen.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Jay watched her boyfriend with admiration as he amplified his voice and cleared his throat. She really did love this guy. She took his hand and held it for support.  
  
"I know you've noticed I'm with a Slytherin," Neville said. "I know none of you like it. I would just like you to know that I don't give a shit."  
  
Everyone was dead silent now. This was a Neville they had never seen before.  
  
"We love each other. And we're brave. We can stand your immature teasing and your hexes. We're strong. Isn't that what Gryffindor is all about? Bravery? Well, Jay's brave. She's not yellow like some of the other Slytherins. She's a wonderful person. If some of you would stop your stereotypes about other houses and actually get to know some of the people, you might find someone good for you. Just try. Be brave."  
  
He quieted his voice and took Jay's other hand. She felt her blood start to pump harder and her cheeks flush red.  
  
They leaned towards each other and their lips made contact. 


	3. The Darneywort Drink and the Last of Dud...

I decided to dedicate this chapter, which I do every once in a while if I feel like it. Thank you k00lgirl1808 for being a very faithful reviewer!  
  
Lost in Darkness  
  
Chap. 3: The Darneywort Drink and the Last of Dudley  
  
Ginny woke up the next morning lying on her couch with her blanket on top of her. It took her a moment to remember why she wasn't in her bed.  
  
She had given her bed to Jay, as several Slytherins nearly knocked her out after she left the Great Hall after kissing Neville. Neville had slept in Harry's room.  
  
Sure enough, when Ginny turned to look at the couch behind her, Harry was sitting up and rubbing his eyes.  
  
"Good morning, love," she said to him.  
  
"Good morning, Gin," he said.  
  
"Hey, lovebirds!" Hermione called from the little balcony above the common room. "Let's go do something! We're bored!"  
  
"Oh, I do not believe it is we who are the lovebirds," Harry said, watching Hermione kissing Ron as he came out of his room.  
  
"Where are our resident Romeo and Juliet?" Ginny called.  
  
"Still asleep."  
  
"I'm not," Jay said, coming out of Ginny's room.  
  
Her hair was rumpled from being asleep and her eyelids still drooped. She looked like a sleepy ten-year-old.  
  
Suddenly ten owls came fluttering through the window carrying copies of the Daily Prophet. They deposited their loads at the doors of the recipients. Harry and Ginny went up stairs to get their copies.  
  
"Harry, look," Ginny said, staring at the headline.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
He gasped when he saw the headline.  
  
FAMILY OF FOUR MURDERED  
  
"Whose family was it? Anyone we knew?" Hermione asked in a hushed voice.  
  
"Yeah," Ginny said. "Hannah Abbott."  
  
"Come on, we should wake her."  
  
Ginny and Hermione rapped on Hannah's door. She opened it after about fifteen knocks, brown hair sticking up everywhere.  
  
"What is it?" she asked, yawning.  
  
Hermione picked up her copy of the Prophet and silently handed it to her. Hannah gasped.  
  
"Oh my God!"  
  
Hermione laid a hand on her shoulder and Ginny went to find Hannah's boyfriend, Justin Finch-Fletchley. She knocked on his door hard. When he didn't wake up, she tried the doorknob.  
  
It was locked. Ginny started getting a really bad feeling. She could tell that the others had it, too, from the way they glanced up at her. She pulled out her wand and pointed it at the lock.  
  
"Alohomora!"  
  
The door still didn't open. Harry came up the stairs and Ginny moved aside. Harry was quite strong from his years of Quidditch.  
  
Harry backed up and pointed his shoulder at the door. He suddenly ran forward into the door with surprising speed. It fell to the floor immediately. Ginny screamed at what came out of the room.  
  
Blood was pouring out of the room from under the bed. Everyone leaped backwards except for Harry and Ginny, who went in.  
  
Harry started cleaning all the blood into a little basin he conjured. Ginny went towards the bed and looked under it. She screamed but didn't run.  
  
Justin was lying under the mattress, pale as death, with multiple stab wounds all over his body.  
  
"I'll get Dumbledore," Ginny volunteered, quite desperate to get away from the body.  
  
She ran out of their personal portrait hole and straight to Dumbledore's office. She decided her personal clearance would be easiest.  
  
"Weasly, Virginia Nicole, Gold," she said impatiently.  
  
The gargoyle leaped aside and Ginny ran up the spiral staircase. She was surprised to see her father talking with Dumbledore.  
  
"Justin's dead!" she said in a rush.  
  
Her father and Dumbledore glanced at each other gravely.  
  
"Miss Weasly, why don't you slow down and start from the beginning?" Dumbledore suggested.  
  
So Ginny explained how they had woken up and seen the headline and found Justin's body under his bed. Dumbledore looked grave and turned to Mr. Weasly.  
  
"What do you think, Minister?" he asked.  
  
"Death Eaters," he said instantly. "This girl, Hannah Abbot's, mother, father, brother, sister, and serious boyfriend all died the same day? And we already know her family was killed by Death Eaters."  
  
"Not boyfriend," Ginny said. "Fiancé. She showed us the ring." Then she realized what Dumbledore had called her father. "Minister?! Oh my God, you beat Perce!"  
  
"The voters decided that the fact that Percy's girlfriend was pregnant turned them off a little. By the way, you're going to be an aunt again. And where are the prefect rooms?"  
  
"Down the stairs and to the left. Portrait of the Hogwarts founders. Password's 'pétales roses.'"  
  
He left silently. Ginny started to follow, but Dumbledore stopped her.  
  
"I'd like to speak to you about something."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Mr. Filch seems to have found a mysterious potion," Dumbledore said. "He found it in a broom closet yesterday. When taken to Professor Snape, he found it happened to be the Darneywort Drink. I don't suppose you would know anything about this?"  
  
"No," Ginny lied. "It's supposed to be really hard to make. And I don't know where to get the ingredients."  
  
Ginny winced, realizing what she had said.  
  
"I realize that you want Rosemary back. But cutting off Harry's skin and draining Hermione of blood is not a good way to do it."  
  
Ginny suddenly felt a hot surge of anger. A window shattered.  
  
"They voted for it!" she yelled. "I'm not doing this for me! Harry's a mess! So are Bill and Hermione and all her godparents! The only person I know who isn't going to pieces is you!"  
  
She stood up and stormed out of the office.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Hannah was crying on her couch with her blanket over her. Hermione was sitting next to her. There were Ministry members and reporters everywhere.  
  
"Do you want to go to your room?" Hermione asked gently.  
  
"No," she sobbed. "I've got pictures of them everywhere."  
  
Harry was feeling very out of place. He wasn't good at comforting people. He decided to try out one of his other powers.  
  
He brought out the mind control power from the back of his brain and focused on Hannah calming down. He turned towards her and noticed that it had actually worked.  
  
He went up to his room, quite pleased with himself. He sat down at his desk and began working on homework.  
  
Ginny came knocking on his door a few minutes later. She was in full redhead wrath.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Filch found the potion and showed it to Snape, who told Dumbledore. Harry, he knows it's us."  
  
"Crap! Is there any way to speed it up? Preferably edit out the memory part, too."  
  
"There's one thing," Ginny said hesitantly. "There's another ingredient you need to add, though."  
  
"What?"  
  
"I'd rather not say."  
  
"Virginia Nicole Weasly! What is it?!"  
  
"The, er, well."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Marrow of."  
  
"What?"  
  
"An empath."  
  
"How much?"  
  
"At least the amount that would be needed for a transplant."  
  
"Ugh."  
  
"You're not the one who'd lose it."  
  
"Would you give it up?"  
  
"For Rose? Duh."  
  
*Virginia Nicole Weasly, I am touched by how much you care about me but I am sickened by the thought of me drinking your marrow, Harry's flesh, Hermione's skin, feathers, and Unisus skin.*  
  
*Hello Rose. Just remember, it's all for you.*  
  
*I hate it when you help me.*  
  
*You do know you're DYING.*  
  
*Technically I'm half-dead. It's actually kind of nice here.*  
  
*Where?*  
  
*Heaven. Bill described it to me once, too.*  
  
*See anyone you know?*  
  
*Yes, as a matter of fact I do.*  
  
*~*~*  
  
Rose was in a sort of dream state. She was aware of being in a hospital bed and aware of the people around her there, but was also aware of the people around her in Heaven.  
  
"Can he hear you?" a woman's voice asked.  
  
"Can you hear him?" a man's voice added.  
  
"Yes, Mummy. Yes, Daddy. We can hear each other," Rose said.  
  
She opened her eyes and smiled at the faces of the three people she hadn't seen in sixteen years.  
  
"You named your children for us?" her mother said.  
  
"Yep," Rose said happily. "Lillian Molly Potter and James Arthur Potter. I want to name my next girl after you, Sarah."  
  
Sarah Black looked flattered.  
  
"Your husband took your last name?"  
  
"I wouldn't," her father said.  
  
Lily Potter sr. and Sarah rolled their eyes.  
  
"Actually, we settled on Weasly-Potter, but everyone calls us the Potters because Weasly-Potter takes too long to say."  
  
"How's Harry?"  
  
"Dating my sister-in-law. I had a dream about their kids."  
  
"Describe them. Your kids and Harry's, the ones you dreamed about."  
  
"Well, my little Lily flower looks just like you, Mum." Lily beamed. "James looks just like you, Dad." James beamed, too.  
  
"In the dream, I saw me with two other kids, a boy and a girl, both with the Weasly hair, but they had green eyes. I saw Harry with four kids, too. Three girls and a boy. They all had green eyes. The boy had the Weasly hair, one girl had Weasly hair, another girl had messy black hair, and the last girl had the Evans auburn."  
  
"I feel loved," Lily said.  
  
"I'm going to have to leave soon, you know," Rose told them sadly.  
  
"How soon?"  
  
"Days. They're making the Darneywort."  
  
"Have you tried talking them out of it?"  
  
"Tried. Mother, Harry and Mione have the Evans stubbornness and the Potter temper. You try talking them out of something."  
  
"What about your sister-in-law, the one Harry's dating? The empath?"  
  
"Redhead. You know how we are."  
  
"Yes, I do."  
  
"Why didn't you two come back as ghosts?" Rose asked suddenly.  
  
Her parents were silent for a moment. Then her father began speaking again.  
  
"Our purpose on Earth was finished. Our purpose was to make you and Harry. You two are the ones who will save the planet from Voldemort."  
  
"How melodramatic does that sound?" Lily said with a laugh.  
  
"Plenty," Rose said, laughing.  
  
"Rose, look," Sarah said.  
  
Rose looked down at herself. Where before she had been almost completely invisible, she now looked about as clear as a ghost.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione stared anxiously at Rose. They had been sent an owl saying that she was getting worse.  
  
"But she's still in the coma," Hermione said, hearing Harry's thoughts.  
  
"We make the potion tonight," Harry said firmly.  
  
"There's something we want to do first," Ginny said.  
  
Hermione and she pulled out their wands at the same time.  
  
"Bourgeons fleurissants!" they said simultaneously.  
  
The room burst into a garden of flowers, mostly pink and white roses, Rose's favorite, but with some of her other favorites, like marigolds, lilies, rosemary, mint, and cinnamon.  
  
"She's going to love it," Harry said.  
  
"The doctors won't. Let's go," Ron said, holding out the Portkey.  
  
They grabbed on and were instantly back at Hogwarts in the closet where the Darneywort Drink was brewing.  
  
"What's first?" Hermione asked.  
  
"Feather of phoenix," Ron said.  
  
Ron pulled a red and gold feather from her pocket.  
  
"From Plumor," he explained, naming her phoenix.  
  
He dropped it into the cauldron, where it dissolved with a loud hiss.  
  
"Clipping of Unisus," Ron said, withdrawing a silver wing tip from her pocket. "From a certain Animagi."  
  
Hermione shuddered.  
  
"Blood of healer," Hermione said nervously.  
  
She rolled up her sleeve and held her arm over the cauldron. She took a long knife and made a long cut along the backside of her forearm. She winced as she watched her own blood pouring into the cauldron and dissolving.  
  
"Flesh of loved one," Hermione said.  
  
She seemed calmer now that her part was over. Ron wasn't. Harry bravely rolled up his sleeve and turned away his head.  
  
He felt a searing pain as his cousin made a long cut all the way around his upper arm, then another one parallel. She made one last cut between the two and Harry bit back a scream as she pulled it off.  
  
He heard another hiss as it dropped into the cauldron.  
  
"Marrow of empath," Hermione said.  
  
Ginny had opted for breastbone marrow. She had joked that it was better than hip. She sure wasn't joking now.  
  
Harry took her hand as she lay down onto a cot they had set up on her back. He saw blood drip onto the mattress and realized he was using the arm Ron had cut. He quickly switched hands before catching a glimpse of the gory cut.  
  
Hermione was the one holding the knife now. She rubbed a potion onto the spot where she would remove the marrow.  
  
"Numbs the skin," she explained.  
  
She wiped her hands and picked up another knife, this one sharper.  
  
Harry looked away but felt Ginny wince as Hermione dug out the marrow. He heard a final hiss and turned around.  
  
Hermione was kneeling by the cauldron, chanting something. Harry perked his ears to listen.  
  
"Feather of phoenix, wing of Unisus, blood of healer, flesh of beloved. Join together, blend yourselves, change from hate to love."  
  
The potion hissed. It sounded almost like it was talking back. It turned red and stopped boiling.  
  
"Marrow of empath, life-sustainer, give us the time!"  
  
The potion boiled and turned pale blue. The fire went out and the bubbling stopped. Hermione leaned against the wall.  
  
"There," she panted. "Done."  
  
And Harry blacked out.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Rose felt something being poured into her mouth. She swallowed it.  
  
Her eyes shot open and she sat up, panting. Bill was standing over her, holding an empty goblet.  
  
"Darneywort Drink," he said grimly, waving the steaming goblet. "Courtesy of your brother, my brother, your cousin, and my sister."  
  
"Are they all right?"  
  
"Ron keeps throwing up. The others are unconscious."  
  
Rose shuddered.  
  
"I drank that stuff?"  
  
"Actually, Bill force-fed it to you," Sirius said from a chair.  
  
He was trying to look calm and relaxed, but from the looks of him, he had been completely panicking.  
  
"Missed you," she said.  
  
He came over and hugged her. He then moved aside for Bill.  
  
"Did you like heaven?" he whispered in her ear.  
  
"I saw Mum and Dad," she whispered back. "And Sarah."  
  
"I saw them too, when I went there."  
  
"Pardon me, lovebirds, but there's someone here to see you," Sirius said.  
  
Hermione came in, sitting on a wheelchair and fussing at the attendant holding it.  
  
"I can push it myself," she argued. "Let go."  
  
"Hospital policy," he said stubbornly.  
  
Hermione snorted and muttered something. The wheelchair was suddenly next to Rose's bed.  
  
"Mione, what did you do to yourself?' Rose sighed.  
  
"The twins missed you. We missed you. What's life without you around to drive us insane?"  
  
"Very funny. Others still out?"  
  
Hermione looked at the floor. "Ron's hurling in the toilet. Didn't like the sight of the blood much. Harry and Gin are still unconscious. Blood loss."  
  
"It wasn't your fault."  
  
"Yes it was!" Hermione said fiercely. "I was the one who cut the skin and the marrow."  
  
Rose put her hand on Hermione's arm and stared into her eyes, forming a private connection only they could hear.  
  
*Stop this! You'll destroy yourself.*  
  
*I don't care.*  
  
*Yes you do! Hermione, imagine yourself not able to do magic at all. None. Not even a simple Lumos. And, to make things even better, you were so depressed you were on suicide watch! You'd literally die from the inside out! It would be like getting the Dementor's Kiss, but slowly, losing a little each day, before finally losing your soul. Eventually, the rest of your body would die.*  
  
Hermione looked away, breaking the contact.  
  
"Where are the twins?" Rose asked.  
  
"With McGonagall and Snape," Sirius said, smirking.  
  
"Oh no," Rose laughed. "That will be something to see. I'm going to see my brother and sister-in-law."  
  
"No you're not."  
  
"Sirius Jonathon Black do you remember what I did to Father when he tried to control me?"  
  
Sirius smiled, remembering the time his goddaughter had put the Body-Bind on Snape.  
  
"Fine. Go. Room 493."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
She stood up and began to walk out of the room, but the pesky attendant stopped her.  
  
"Wheelchair," he said, pushing one towards her.  
  
"Fine. But I push," she said stubbornly.  
  
"No."  
  
"Fine," she said airily, casually brushing up her bangs. The attendant's eye widened. "But my father-in-law, Minister Arthur Weasly, just might take offense to his daughter-in-law's treatment here. He might even cut off funding."  
  
The attendant scurried off. Rose smirked.  
  
"You coming, Mione?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
Hermione followed her cousin out the door and down the hall into room 493. Rose gasped and stopped so quickly Hermione bumped into her.  
  
Harry was lying on the hospital bed, literally white. Rose wheeled over and gently touched his shoulder.  
  
"Oh my God," she whispered.  
  
She looked at the next bed over. Ginny was not as pale, but quite close. Rose pushed a curl away from her face.  
  
She heard a coughing and a squelching noise from a little door off to the right of the room. Hermione and Rose looked at each other.  
  
"Ron," they said simultaneously.  
  
"I'll go get him," Hermione said.  
  
Rose nodded and wheeled over to where her brother lay. She took his hand and laid her long fingers on the vein. She was frightened at how weak his pulse felt. She closed her eyes and wished with everything she had that he would get better.  
  
"Rose?" Hermione said softly.  
  
Rose's eyes shot open, as if she was coming out of a trance.  
  
"Hello, Ron," she said, seeing him standing next to Mione.  
  
He was a nasty shade of apple green and he was leaning rather heavily against the wall.  
  
"Here," Rose said, handing him two small pills. "Palmed these from the meds room. Non-prescription."  
  
"Bless you," Ron said as he snatched the pills and swallowed them. He gagged immediately, but apparently had already thrown up everything he had eaten.  
  
"Liar," he said hoarsely. "You made these yourself."  
  
"They're good though. It's what I use. Why did they send you here, anyways?"  
  
"Oh, let me just show you," Hermione said impatiently.  
  
Rose opened her mind and felt Hermione showing her the memory.  
  
::Flashback::  
  
Hermione was leaning against a wall. Ron was unconscious and so were Ginny and Harry. But the potion had worked. Unfortunately, Harry and Ginny looked really terrible and were still losing blood.  
  
Hermione knew she couldn't heal something this bad. The only thing she could do was stop the bleeding temporarily. She tried to crawl over to them, but she was too weak. Apparently, she had lost more blood than she thought. She weakly called out.  
  
"Professor McGonagall?" she said weakly. She switched to mental.  
  
*Professor McGonagall? Professor Snape?*  
  
She called for what seemed like an hour before they found her. Professor McGonagall gasped and staggered backwards. Professor Snape just looked grim.  
  
"It was you making the Darneywort. If it was not for my goddaughter, you have no idea how many points you would lose from Gryffindor."  
  
"I take it you are the healer?" Professor McGonagall said. She seemed to have recovered.  
  
"Ginny's empath," Hermione said dreamily.  
  
She recognized that she was going to faint from blood loss, so she lay in a position where it wouldn't hurt as much. She blacked out.  
  
::End Flashback::  
  
"Where are Mother and Father now, anyways?" Rose asked.  
  
"At your house," Hermione said, easing herself back into her bed.  
  
"I see. With the twins."  
  
Ron snickered. A feeble laugh came from another part of the room.  
  
"Ginny!" Hermione said.  
  
She leaped over to the edge of the bed and sat down.  
  
"How are you feeling?"  
  
"My chest hurts."  
  
"Now, there's a shock," Ron said. "You know, Mum and Dad will kill us."  
  
"We were brave and sacrificed to help a friend," Ginny informed him. "Where's Rose's room, anyways?"  
  
"No need to come," Rose said. "I'm right here."  
  
She wheeled over and lowered herself into a chair.  
  
"Why are you in a wheelchair?"  
  
"Damn hospital attendants."  
  
"I see."  
  
"Where's Harry?"  
  
"Turn your head right. Just your head, otherwise the rest of you will experience a flash of extreme pain."  
  
She did so and gasped at Harry's face.  
  
"Oh my God! He's so pale!"  
  
"You should see yourself."  
  
"Has he regained consciousness at all yet?"  
  
"No."  
  
*I am so damn bored in here,* came a voice in their heads.  
  
*HARRY!* the girls and Ron said at once.  
  
*Ow.*  
  
*Where are you?* Rose asked. She was afraid of the answer.  
  
*Where do ya think?*  
  
*Say hi to them for me,* Rose said softly.  
  
*Okay. But according to Mum and Dad, I shouldn't be here. I need to go back NOW.*  
  
*Slight problem, oh incredibly intelligent cousin,* Hermione said sarcastically. *If we could, we would have.*  
  
*Ask Sarah how to bring you back. She was a healer.*  
  
*Cool.* There was a short pause. *She says just get Mione and you Rose to heal me.*  
  
*That simple? Ask her the side effects.*  
  
*According to her, slight lapses in concentration.*  
  
"Better than the Verichaserum problem," Rose muttered to herself.  
  
*What?*  
  
*Ask me about it sometime. Now I'm breaking the connection.*  
  
*Bye.*  
  
*Bye.*  
  
Rose settled into a chair next to her brother's bed. Hermione took the chair on the other side. Each of them laid a finger on his wrist and concentrated on bringing him back to consciousness.  
  
Rose felt him coming back, slowly but steadily. It was working. She concentrated on speeding it up and felt Hermione do the same.  
  
Harry's wrist suddenly twitched. Rose jerked her finger away. His eyes flickered and opened. He smiled.  
  
"Hi."  
  
"Harry!" the girls screeched.  
  
Sirius and Bill came skidding into the room.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
Rose sighed.  
  
"Take a look. How soon can we get out of this trap?"  
  
"Anytime you want, now that Harry's conscious again. But you have to use the wheelchair to get downstairs. All of you."  
  
Rose growled but let herself be lowered back into the wheelchair.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione were sent straight to Hogwarts, while Bill, Rose, and Sirius went straight home.  
  
"What happened here?" Hermione said in dismay, gazing at the common room.  
  
"It looks like a herd of elephants came through," Ginny said.  
  
Their common room was a mess. The blankets were spread all over the couches and the floor. There were ashes from the fire on the carpet and several couches were turned over. The room was smothered in flour. Hermione screamed when she looked in the library, and almost burst into tears.  
  
The shelves were turned over onto the floor, and there were ripped books everywhere. The only shelves still standing had all of the books either dumped onto the floor or scrambled up. Everything was covered in what looked like red crayon.  
  
"My library!" Hermione cried.  
  
"Where are O'Connell and Durseley?" Harry asked through gritted teeth.  
  
They raced up the stairs to the Slytherin prefects' rooms. O'Connell's was empty except for a note.  
  
Hello, little Gryffindors. Knew you'd love my new decorations. Hope you like them; I worked on them quite hard. So did Durseley, unfortunately the work injured him slightly. I'm afraid it could be permanent. I'll see you at your place tomorrow at six with your friends!  
  
-Erin O'Connell  
  
"Damn, that nasty little bitch pisses me off!!!" Ginny said, to the others' surprise.  
  
"Virginia Nicole Weasly-"  
  
"Oh, shut up, Ronnykins, I've heard you use worse."  
  
Ron shut up. Then he reread the note, and noticed the part about Durseley.  
  
"Hey, I think she killed Durseley!"  
  
He did not sound too sad. Hermione swatted him on the arm.  
  
"Hey! Ow!"  
  
"You didn't think three years of Quidditch would toughen up my arm a bit? At least pretend to be sad."  
  
"Not a chance."  
  
Ginny whipped out her wand and did a silencing spell on him.  
  
"Thank you, Ginny."  
  
"You're welcome, Mione."  
  
They calmly walked down the hall, Harry laughing like mad and Ron furiously mouthing something.  
  
"Here's Durseley's room," Ginny said.  
  
She pushed the door open and jumped back, as if suspecting to be attacked by some animal. But nothing came out at all, not a single drop of blood.  
  
"Then how the hell did she kill him?" Harry said, voicing all their thoughts.  
  
"We're assuming it wasn't magical," Hermione said grimly. "She's definitely powerful enough to do Avada. After all, Lucretia Diabolique chose her as her heir. I don't think she'd choose someone too weak to do Avada."  
  
"Point taken. Ron, you can use that x-ray vision thingy, can't you?"  
  
He stubbornly crossed his arms.  
  
"Fine!" Hermione said exasperatedly.  
  
She undid the Silencing Spell and Ron looked around the room. He yelped when he looked over at the bathroom.  
  
"Obviously, over there," Harry said.  
  
They nervously approached the door, pulled it open, and jumped back. Water gushed from the room onto the floor.  
  
"Just water," Hermione said.  
  
"Yeah, right."  
  
They split up and searched all the corners. Harry was looking in a cabinet when he heard Ginny scream.  
  
She was pointing at the full bathtub. Lying at the bottom of the ten-foot area was Dudley Durseley, tied to a bookcase.  
  
"Ugh," Ginny said.  
  
"I'll get Professor Dumbledore," Ron and Ginny said at the same time. They bolted.  
  
Harry pulled off his robes and dove down into the water to bring up his cousin's body. Getting the ties off was a challenge. He had to go up for air eight times before they finally came undone. When the last rope was cut, Dudley floated to the surface. That was when Harry noticed he wasn't just thinner. He was literally skin and bones.  
  
"What did she do to him?" Ginny said at the sight of the body.  
  
"Starved him apparently," Harry said calmly. "Horrible torture for this particular one."  
  
"I agree."  
  
Professor Dumbledore suddenly cam in the room, followed by Snape, McGonagall, Ron, and Ginny.  
  
"He was tied to a bookcase on the bottom of the ten-foot," Harry explained.  
  
"We should notify Miss O'Connell," McGonagall suggested. "They were quite close."  
  
"She left," Harry said.  
  
Dumbledore looked at him in that odd way he had.  
  
"She left no hints as to where she would be?"  
  
"No," Harry quickly lied.  
  
He felt terrible immediately. He hushed his conscience by telling himself that as this was Dumbledore, he would probably know anyways.  
  
"Where are the other prefects?" Snape asked.  
  
"We didn't look for them."  
  
"Then do it now!"  
  
The four scuttled off and began opening and closing doors. No one was in any of the prefects' rooms. They got nervous and checked the bathrooms. No body. (Oh, what a demented joke.) When they checked the Ravenclaw girl's room, they found out where they were.  
  
There was a note on Padma's bed from O'Connell again.  
  
Sigh. You Gryffindors really are stupid people, aren't you? I told you I'd meet you at you at your house with your friends. They're still alive, for now. But that can be, shall we say.reversed. Be at your house.  
  
-Erin O'Connell 


	4. In Which there are a Lot of Kidnapped Pe...

Just thought I'd tell you. This is not the last in the Unicorn and the Stag series. I am going to write about everybody's kids.  
  
Sorry it's such a short chapter! I seriously doubt that the next one will be so short.  
  
Lost in Darkness  
  
Chapter Four: In Which there are a Lot of Kidnappings  
  
Rose was obsessively drumming her fingers against anything within reach. She looked at the clock. Five thirty.  
  
She sighed and started tapping her coffee table. Bill reached over and put his hand on top of hers. She grinned sheepishly.  
  
The other Golds were there, too, mostly sitting on each others' laps. Dean and Seamus were there for support and to find his girlfriend in Dean's case.  
  
Parvati was a complete mess. She had cried for hours on end when she found out. Her eyes were still red and she had tearstains on her cheeks.  
  
Rose looked at the clock again. Quarter till. She picked up Lily and bounced her up and down. She giggled and crawled off Rose's lap to join her brother on the floor.  
  
*Calm down, Rose,* Harry told her privately.  
  
*I can't.*  
  
*Yes you can.*  
  
*No I can't.*  
  
*If you don't stop I'm letting Red and George in.*  
  
She glared at him and slid to the floor to play with the twins. Ten seconds left. She began a silent countdown.  
  
Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One. Zero.  
  
There was a loud pop and two teenagers appeared in the sitting room. (Three guesses who and the first two don't count.)  
  
"Hello, ladies," Draco Malfoy said with a smirk.  
  
"Miss us much?" Erin O'Connell said with a smirk to rival Malfoy's.  
  
"Where are they?" Rose asked from between her teeth.  
  
She had picked up the twins and sat them on the couch. They whimpered and crawled to their father.  
  
"We said we'd bring them," O'Connell said. "And here they are."  
  
She held out a small green and silver box with the Dark Mark on the lid. Rose opened it carefully.  
  
The Hogwarts prefects were inside, apparently Stunned, shrunken to fit into the box. Rose looked up at her suspiciously.  
  
"What have you done to them?"  
  
"Nothing," Malfoy said with that annoying smirk again.  
  
Rose immediately probed his mind to see if he was telling the truth. She didn't get very far before he shut his mind. She glared and lifted the prefects carefully out of the box and onto the coffee table. She looked up to continue her little "talk" with the heirs, but they were gone.  
  
"Help me enlarge them," Rose said, mostly to her brother, cousin, and Ginny.  
  
They whipped out their wands and pointed them at the prefects.  
  
"Engorgio!"  
  
They immediately returned to their regular size. Rose felt for pulse.  
  
"Just Stunned," she said with relief.  
  
They went through and revived everyone. They were quite confused at first, but Harry and Hermione explained everything.  
  
"So we were captured by Death Eaters?" Terry Boot said, rubbing his head. "What did they want from us?"  
  
"I'm not sure," Rose said with a frown. "I still don't know why they returned you so soon. It's like they didn't even need you at all.but they wouldn't kidnap people for the fun of it. They kill for the fun of it."  
  
Padma had surprised everyone and hardly greeted Dean at all. They were really close, too. Dean still looked rather hurt.  
  
"Come on, let's get back to the school," Hermione said in her most dignified Head Girl voice.  
  
She climbed out of Ron's lap and led the prefects back to Hogwarts.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Harry slept restlessly that night. In fact, he didn't sleep at all. He was getting a nasty feeling and could tell that Rose was too. He sighed and rolled over.  
  
*Rose, would you please calm down?* he said over their connection.  
  
*I can't,* she said stubbornly. *I've got a bad feeling.*  
  
*Which?*  
  
*The one I get whenever you're about to go get hit by Cruciatus or something like that.*  
  
*Oh. That feeling.*  
  
*Uh-oh. Vision coming on. Just mine.*  
  
The last thing Rose did before being seized completely by the premonition was opening the connection more so Harry could watch her vision.  
  
A girl was storming out of a building in a horrible mood. She was about twenty and looked about Rose's height. She had black spiked hair and lots of silver hoop earrings everywhere. All her clothes were black. Obviously a Goth.  
  
She ran into an apartment next door and took the elevator up. Two other Goth girls met her.  
  
"Bastards at work bitching at you for everything again?" one girl said.  
  
"Yeah," the girl from the elevator responded. "Let's go pray."  
  
She followed the other girls into an apartment, where they sat down, turned off the lights, and lit candles.. Apparently they were Wiccan. They began to chant a Wiccan prayer of protection.  
  
They didn't get very far. Three hooded and masked figures burst into the room and swiftly Stunned all three girls. They dragged them over to a wall where they said, "Compaia a Lair!"  
  
The Death Eaters disappeared, taking the Wiccan girls with them.  
  
Harry just sat up and waited for Rose to come screaming up the stairs. He was not disappointed. Ten minutes later, his sister, still in her pajamas, came bursting through the door.  
  
Harry stuck his head out the door and saw that she was banging on everyone's doors. (Erin is still gone and Dudley of course is dead.)  
  
"It's Vol- the Dark Lord! He's going to kidnap three Muggle girls!" 


	5. Ailani Robertson and Jay's Secret

The Wiccan prayer happens actually to be real. I am not Wiccan but I know an author who has a friend who is and that is where I got the prayer.  
  
Lost in Darkness  
  
Chapter Five: Ailani Sanyu Robertson and Jay's Secret  
  
Ailani looked up at her captor from under her eyebrow rings.  
  
"Where is the boy?" the hooded man said.  
  
She didn't answer, simply spat in his face. He had taken off the mask, so it did hit him on his skin. He just wiped it off and looked at the woman with hate in his heart. He pointed a long stick of wood at her with a handle.  
  
"Crucio!" he said.  
  
Immediately Ailani felt like she was being pierced by thousands of knives, pressing on her nerves. She looked down at her torn clothes, expecting to see blood. She was surprised that there was none, at least not counting the old stuff from when they had thrown her onto the floor.  
  
He stopped the torture.  
  
"Where is the boy?" he hissed in her face.  
  
She defiantly did not answer. For some reason the man looked pleased.  
  
"All right," he said. "We will just have to have Master Malfoy and Mistress O'Connell give you a little example of our ruthlessness."  
  
He stepped aside, showing a boy and a girl in their late teens. The boy was blonde and the girl had raven hair. They were both smirking. Ailani laughed.  
  
"Is this all you have? Two children playing grown-ups?"  
  
All three of them laughed. It wasn't a happy laugh, like the way you would laugh at a joke. It was a laugh that said, you silly girl, I'm going to show you what we can all do.  
  
The blonde boy pointed another stick at her friend Melania.  
  
"Avada Kedavra!" he yelled.  
  
Ailani screamed as Melania went limp. She was dead. The boy smirked and took his place by the Hooded Man's side. The girl stepped forward to Kerry.  
  
"Oh, this is fun," she murmured in delight to the boy.  
  
"I'll find you some proper Muggles to kill tomorrow, how about that?" he said. "And I'll let you do some torturing, too."  
  
The raven-haired girl traced Kerry's face with her stick. Kerry trembled. Ailani shut her eyes and began muttering a prayer of protection.  
  
"Goddess of love, honor, and hope. Guide me through this time of need; this time of loneliness and despair. Heed my call of wishes. Love me as I love you. Grant my wish of protection and lead me to higher ground."  
  
She didn't see the girl poke the stick into Kerry's chest. She didn't hear her scream of, "Avada Kedavra!" She did not hear the bang, or feel her ties being cut. She didn't smell the stench of death all around her. She didn't feel her mouth being punched, or taste the blood in her mouth. In fact, the first thing she knew of was opening her eyes to see a stout, motherly redhead sitting next to her.  
  
"Who.are you?" Ailani choked out.  
  
"Molly Weasly, dearie," the woman said in a Cockney accent. "And you're in my son and daughter-in-law's house in Hogsmeade, England."  
  
"Mum, don't scare her," another voice said.  
  
This voice was different. It seemed to almost shift. She sounded like a Londoner and a Cockney and an American all at once. But the London stood out the most.  
  
Molly Weasly stood up and made room for another redhead. Ailani knew right away that this was the voice she had heard. She looked like a very motherly person, but magical and sisterly and friendly, too. She had wavy auburn hair that she could sit on and shocking green eyes.  
  
"How do you feel?" she asked gently.  
  
"Like I was run over by a bull," Ailani said groggily.  
  
"What's your name?"  
  
"Ailani Sanyu Robertson."  
  
"Nice name. What does it mean?"  
  
"Ailani is Hawaiian and it means 'high chieftain.' Sanyu is Japanese and means 'happiness.'"  
  
"My name's Rosemary Lillian Weasly-Potter, but everyone calls me Rose Lily Potter."  
  
"You must be Mrs. Weasly's daughter-in-law."  
  
Ailani sat up and looked around. She was startled to see that she was surrounded by people. Two identical blondes were standing next to two identical redheads. Two more redheaded boys sat on the floor, playing with two babies that looked like twins, a boy with messy black hair and green eyes and a girl with auburn hair and green eyes. There was a redheaded girl standing with a boy with the same green eyes and messy black hair, a brown- haired girl with blue eyes, and two Oriental girls with brown tear-drop shaped eyes and long, heavy black hair. They all seemed very interested in Ailani.  
  
"Why am I here?" she asked.  
  
"Very, very, very long story," Rose said. "But if you want to hear it, do me a favor."  
  
"Sure."  
  
"Stare at that window and think of the thing that made you the angriest you've ever been in your life."  
  
Ailani stared at the window and thought of the time she had seen two high- schoolers beating up a preschool boy in the middle of the street. She imagined that the window was the bully's face. She felt her eyes clouding over in fury.  
  
The window shattered. Ailani yelped.  
  
"Hermione, your turn to explain something," Mrs. Weasly-Potter said.  
  
She stood up and made room for the brown-haired girl with the blue eyes. Ailani began to realize that the girl looked slightly familiar. She searched her brain, trying to think of where she had seen the teen. Her eyes widened in sudden recognition.  
  
"Mione?" she shrieked.  
  
Mione's eyes widened.  
  
"Isle?" Hermione shrieked back.  
  
"The one and only!"  
  
"Oh my God!"  
  
"You know her?" the redheaded girl said curiously.  
  
"She was my best friend before I go my letter!" Hermione said excitedly. "We had the exact same schedule!"  
  
"Why Isle? Why not Ally or something."  
  
"She hardly had any friends except for me and a few other Wiccans."  
  
"But she must be years older than you," the youngest redheaded boy said. He had a Cockney like the red-haired girl and Mrs. Weasly.  
  
"Mione, what grade were you in when you got your letter?" the boy with the messy black hair said.  
  
"I was entering eleventh grade," she said shyly.  
  
"You were taking classes with people my age?" Mrs. Weasly-Potter said.  
  
"And acing them," Ailani said.  
  
"Why am I not surprised?" one of the redheaded twins said.  
  
Hermione rolled her eyes.  
  
"Anyways," she said. "Why you're here. To put it shortly, you're a witch."  
  
"I'm not a witch. I'm a Wiccan. Witches are imaginary."  
  
"You're looking at nine," Hermione said.  
  
Ailani looked around the room, counting the females.  
  
"You mean every woman and girl in this room is a witch?"  
  
"And every guy a wizard," Mione confirmed. "You're currently in an all- magic town near Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, in which I am currently enrolled. I graduate this year."  
  
"You didn't skip any grades?"  
  
"No, but my friend Ginny did," Mione said, jerking her thumb at the red- haired girl. Ginny waved slightly. "But I am Head Girl and part of my house's sports team. Harry's head boy," she nodded at the black-haired boy, "Ron's a prefect," the youngest redhead boy waved, "and Ginny's a prefect too."  
  
"But who are all these other people?"  
  
"Let's see. The blonde identical twins are Alexa and Alice Bernard, but they will kill you if they hear you call them that. They are Alex and Ally or simply the Bernards. Their boyfriends are the other identical twins, Fred and George Weasly. Fred's the fatter one, and that's the one Alex hangs about with, so that's how you can tell the difference. The boy with the black hair, Ginny's boyfriend, is Rose's brother Harry Potter; the black-haired twins are Padma and Parvati Patil. Parvati's got the red and gold striped tie, Padma's is blue and bronze. Did I forget anyone?" She looked around the room. "Oh, sorry Bill. The oldest guy with the red hair is Bill, he's Rose's husband. The two babies on the carpet are theirs. They are Lillian Molly Weasly-Potter II and James Arthur Weasly-Potter II. AKA Lily and James."  
  
"Wow," Ailani said. "That's kind of a lot to take in, Mione."  
  
"Well, you have Rose and Bill to explain things; after all it's their house. The Weasly twins and the Bernards have graduated, too, so they can keep you company. Don't let the Weasly twins give you any food. Bye, Isle!"  
  
"Bye, Mione!"  
  
Ailani watched her last bit of normalcy disappear through the door.  
  
*~*~*  
  
"You were a junior when you were eleven?!"  
  
Ron was still incredulous. Hermione was exasperated. Ginny couldn't blame her.  
  
"Ron, your jaw doesn't look good hanging," Ginny said with a smirk. "Shut up or I'll shut it for you."  
  
He shut it. They all went to Potions, where they were five minutes late. All of them.  
  
"Five points for each one of you that was late," Snape snapped.  
  
*That's twenty-five points!* Ginny yelped indignantly. *Nasty son of a-*  
  
*Ten points, Miss Weasly,* Snape said in their heads.  
  
All five of them scowled. They agreed with Ginny.  
  
"Today you will be working in pairs."  
  
*Rose arranged them,* Harry said with considerable glee, but not before concealing their wavelength.  
  
*Thank you, Rosie!*  
  
*Ronald Joseph Weasly, if I ever hear you call me that again-*  
  
They hadn't realized Rose was listening. They quickly tuned back into the lesson.  
  
"Virginia Weasly and Harry Potter. Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasly. Parvati Patil and Seamus Finnigan. Jessica Rawson and Neville Longbottom."  
  
He kept going, but the first eight called were in bliss, drifting over to each other's desks.  
  
Harry and Ginny did perfectly on the potion. The other Golds did, too. Jay and Neville, not so much.  
  
Jay hopelessly mixed up the order in which she put in the ingredients. Hermione and Ginny noticed too late. The cauldron dissolved, spreading all over the floor and dissolving everything in its path. Desks, feet, even the stone walls grew tiny wormholes. The floor was immaculately cleaned.  
  
Those who could levitate did. Those who couldn't ::cough, cough JAY NEVILLE:: simply stood and were miserable.  
  
Snape pretended not to notice and went to save his own cauldron. Ginny felt her face going red. She whipped out her wand.  
  
"Stupefy!" she whispered.  
  
Snape was Stunned. He fell on top of his dissolving desk. Ginny Levitated Neville and Hermione took care of Jay. Harry Summoned his Firebolt and flew to the hospital wing with everyone who had been stung sitting on the back.  
  
"Well, that was an adventure," Hermione commented as they walked to Transfiguration.  
  
"Yeah," Ron said sarcastically. "We lost a total of 125 points from Gryffindor, not including Seamus 'accidentally' dropping armadillo bile on Snape's desk!!! And let's not forget that poor Neville and Jay've detention next Friday."  
  
There was a loud thump and the sound of paper scattering. Jay and Neville had bumped into each other and dropped their bags.  
  
"Better have a snog fest before detention," Ginny whispered to Jay, who blushed furiously. "Filch might cut off your lips."  
  
"Or your tongue," Parvati added wickedly.  
  
Jay made a little squeak and ran for her next class.  
  
"We need to talk to Rose," Harry said.  
  
"I want to get in touch with Isle," she said.  
  
They opened the connection.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Back in Hogsmeade, Rose had finished explaining magical schools, magic, and basically everything.  
  
"I'm not sure why you didn't get a letter for a school," she said. "You have enough magic; it's practically burning off you. I feel like I'm being singed."  
  
"So I'm not a klutz, I've just been magically breaking things," Ailani said.  
  
"Exactly."  
  
"Who were those men?"  
  
"Brief explanation this time. They're servants of Lord Voldemort. Never use his real name; it freaks people out. Call him the Dark Lord, You-Know-Who, or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. He has a twin sister, Lucretia Diabolique. His and his sister's servants are Death Eaters. They're trying to get control of the planet. They stopped all activity for thirteen years before they rose again when I was nineteen and my brother Harry was fourteen."  
  
"Why'd they get thrown down?"  
  
"Voldemort was almost destroyed. He tried to use the Killing Curse on Harry. He got a good deal of wizards and witches with it, including my parents. But since Mummy died to save Harry, he survived. I survived because there was a friend of the family's at my house and she took the curse for me. Harry and I only have a little scar."  
  
Rose pushed back her bangs to reveal her lightning-bolt scar identical to Harry's.  
  
"Any more questions?"  
  
"Why were they asking about Reagan?"  
  
"Reagan? Who's he?"  
  
Rose had never heard the name.  
  
"The gang and I found him homeless. He's about three. We adopted him."  
  
"Describe him."  
  
"Raven-black hair, green eyes most of the time."  
  
"Most of the time?"  
  
"Sometimes they, um."  
  
"Go on."  
  
"They turn red."  
  
"Then he is very probably evil."  
  
"He's three!"  
  
"Any more questions?" Rose asked, ignoring the comment.  
  
"Who were the kids?"  
  
She laughed. Ailani looked terribly hurt.  
  
"I'm sorry. I just don't hear the Dark Prince and Princess called kids very often. They're a powerful witch and wizard, Erin O'Connell and Draco Malfoy. They're Voldemort's and Lucretia Diabolique's heirs."  
  
"The Kids-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named?"  
  
"I guess you could call me that."  
  
Suddenly Rose heard a voice in her head.  
  
*ROSE!*  
  
She grabbed her head. Her brother was really loud. Ailani stared.  
  
"Excuse me."  
  
Rose left the room and sat onto a couch in the sitting room. She shut her eyes and completely brought herself into the connection.  
  
*What, Harrison?*  
  
*Do not EVER call me that.*  
  
*Whatever. What, Harry?*  
  
*Snape picked on the class again. Specifically Jay and Neville.*  
  
*What did he do now?*  
  
*See for yourself.*  
  
He showed Rose the memory. Rose's eyes turned violet like they always did when she became angry. She closed the connection to the Golds and called her godfather.  
  
*FATHER!*  
  
*Rosemary, I'm in the middle of a class.*  
  
*Amazing, after the last one!*  
  
*The boy is completely incompetent.*  
  
*IT'S NOT HIS FAULT! MAYBE IF YOU WERE HAFLWAY DECENT TO YOUR CLASSES HE COULD DO BETTER! AND YOU HAD NO REASON WHATSOEVER TO LET HIS FEET NEARLY BE EATEN!*  
  
She suddenly calmed down, remembering a nice threat she could use.  
  
*Uh-oh. Rosemary Lillian Weasly-Potter, what is it now?*  
  
*Don't pick on him until the end of winter holiday.*  
  
*Or what?*  
  
*I tell the entire school your middle name.*  
  
*You wouldn't dare.*  
  
*I would and I will.*  
  
*Okay, okay, I agree!*  
  
She smirked and went back to her brother. She told him what she had done.  
  
*Tell me if he picks on Neville or Jay,* she said.  
  
*Gladly. By the way, what is Snape's middle name?*  
  
*I'm going to announce it anyways. Make sure everyone is in the Great Hall tonight at eight. Everyone.*  
  
*Sure.*  
  
Rose closed off the connection and went to take a nap.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Harry had told the Patil twins about what Rose had said. They had friends in every year of every house but Slytherin. Jay told Pansy Parkinson, who had every Slytherin connection imaginable. Tonight would be very amusing.  
  
"What do you think his middle name is?" Ron asked through a mouthful of steak.  
  
"Harold?" Seamus guessed.  
  
Harry shot him dagger eyes.  
  
"What? You're Harrison."  
  
"My grandfather was a Harold."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"I think it's Benny or Danny or something like that," Ginny said.  
  
"I say Dana."  
  
"That's a girl's name!"  
  
"Not necessarily. But it's more commonly a girl's name."  
  
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Potty, Mudblood and the Weasel."  
  
Harry turned around. Dameon Morkin and Pansy Parkinson were the Slytherin prefects now that O'Connell had deserted and Durseley had died.  
  
"Fuck off, Parkinson," Ron told him.  
  
Hermione stomped on his foot under the table.  
  
"Oh ho, Weasel's got a temper," Parkinson said.  
  
Ginny twitched slightly. Her and her brother's ears were bright red. Parkinson noticed. She also noticed that the top button of her shirt had come unbuttoned.  
  
"Weasel, your peas are showing," she said.  
  
Ginny quickly redid the shirt. Harry started seeing red. Parkinson smirked and walked off with Morkin, his hand on her ass.  
  
"Ugh, that nasty little bitch!" Hermione yelped, surprising everyone.  
  
"She shouldn't talk!" Parvati said indignantly. "I can't count the number of times she's rolled up her skirt! Look!"  
  
It was true. If it went any higher, Parkinson's fat ass would be showing.  
  
"And that is not something we want to see," Ron said, hearing Harry's thought.  
  
Jay suddenly scampered over to the table.  
  
"Help!" she whispered. "New King and Queen of Slytherin!"  
  
"Parkinson and Morkin," Ron said grimly. "We know, they just came by for a happy little chat."  
  
"You know every house has its own little royal court? I decided to hide behind this one!"  
  
Ron's jaw dropped.  
  
"We're the most popular people in Gryffindor?!"  
  
"The little kids practically worship you. Think of the Creevey Brothers."  
  
They looked at the two brothers who were standing twenty feet away, furiously snapping pictures.  
  
"Who are the king and queen?" Ginny asked curiously.  
  
"You and Harry. Ron and Hermione are prince and princess."  
  
"Cool," all four of them said.  
  
"What about Ravenclaw?"  
  
"Terry Boot, king, Padma, queen, guy named Terrence Nicholson, prince, girlfriend named Emilia Josepha princess. Hufflepuff, sole high ruler Hannah Abbott, as Justin Finch-Fletchley died, Prince Joseph Maplewood, Princess Amy Mia. Slytherin has no prince and princess."  
  
"Cool."  
  
"Not for those of us who are the slaves of the Slytherin Court," Jay said, looking at Parkinson and Morkin, who were hexing a Hufflepuff first-year.  
  
"Saying 'the King, Queen and Army are coming' automatically means 'Run! Slytherin bastards coming down the hall!!!'" Neville said.  
  
"I see."  
  
"I need to do my homework before The Announcement," Hermione said.  
  
She got up, grabbed her bag, and raced to Gryffindor Tower.  
  
"Me too," Ginny said as she followed.  
  
Parvati ran after them.  
  
The boys looked at each other.  
  
"What's up with them?" Ron said.  
  
*~*~*  
  
"Sleepover time!"  
  
Hermione, Ginny, Parvati, Lavender, and the other girl in the Gryffindor dorm, Danielle Anderson, or Danny, had spread sleeping bags over the floor and snuck snacks out of the kitchen. They did this every time the girls wanted to chat. And Danny said she had major news. Hermione and Ginny had come over from the Prefect House to hear it.  
  
"Spill it, Danny," Parvati demanded.  
  
"Oh, but this is really fun," she said. "I like holding you in suspense."  
  
"DANNY!" all four girls yelled.  
  
"Okay, okay," she laughed.  
  
She took a small gold ring on her right ring finger and twisted it around. A large diamond showed.  
  
"Oh my God!" the girls shrieked. "You're engaged?! To who?"  
  
"Guess. He's graduated; he was a Keeper and has now been accepted into the Ballycastle Bats."  
  
"Oh my Lord!" Hermione yelped. "Oliver Wood?!"  
  
"The one and only!"  
  
The girls shrieked and demanded to know how long they had been dating and important things like that.  
  
"My cousin just got married," Hermione said once things had quieted down. "She knows some great spells."  
  
"Your cousin's married?" Lavender said curiously. "To who?"  
  
"Bill Weasly. He's only two years older than her."  
  
"Cool. He's kind of cute. His brothers certainly are."  
  
Hermione threw a pillow at her.  
  
"They are! Don't worry, though, Ron is definitely yours."  
  
"Good."  
  
They suddenly noticed Ginny hadn't talked at all.  
  
"Earth to Ginny," Hermione said. "What's up?"  
  
"I'm thinking."  
  
"About?"  
  
"It's obvious. We're talking about boyfriends and fiancés and things like that. Lavender, who is Ginny dating?"  
  
"Danny," Ginny said thoughtfully. "How did you feel when you first saw Oliver?"  
  
"He really annoyed me at first. He was so obsessed with Quidditch. But look at me now, I'm on the team that's won the Cup three times in a row and engaged to him! Fourth year doesn't count because they called off the championship."  
  
"I had a crush on Harry before I ever saw him face-to-face," Ginny said dreamily. "I saw one of those pictures that updates when the person ages in a book when I was eight. I thought he was so cute. Then I met him and found out he's a really nice guy. He baby-sits his niece and nephew anytime his sister asks him. And he doesn't make her pay, either. He'd do anything for anyone."  
  
"That's really sweet," Danny said.  
  
"You think he's 'the one?'" Parvati asked.  
  
"I'm not sure," Ginny said. "But I hope he is. But really, who finds their soul mate when they're eight?"  
  
"I guess."  
  
"Oh, it's almost eight!" Lavender said.  
  
The girls bounded out the door, through the portrait hole, and into the Great Hall. The entire school was there. For some reason, the teachers weren't out. Rose winked.  
  
*I can control time, remember? In the teachers' rooms, time is stopped.*  
  
*You are evil.*  
  
*And proud of it!*  
  
She picked up a magical bullhorn and held it to her mouth.  
  
"Attention, Hogwarts students!" she yelled.  
  
Everyone stopped chatting to listen. They turned towards the loud, energetic redhead on the stage.  
  
"That's my cousin!" Hermione whispered to everyone who didn't know.  
  
"I have called you here for a very important announcement!" Rose continued. "The middle name of your Professor Snape! Do not leave, especially Gryffindors! This will be perfect revenge for all the times Snape has tortured you!" She cleared her throat. "The middle name of Professor Severus Snape is.Pooky!"  
  
The Great Hall roared with laughter.  
  
"His mother named him Pooky?" Dean laughed.  
  
"Thank you, that is all!" Rose yelled. "Go back to your dormitories!"  
  
They were still laughing.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Potions the next day was, shall we say.interesting.  
  
"Take your seats," Snape snapped.  
  
The students smirked. They had him first thing in the morning, so he hadn't heard about Pooky yet. They filed into their seats sitting next to their partners from the day before.  
  
"Turn to page 294 in your books and complete the potion listed."  
  
Some of the students snickered. Snape threatened points.  
  
"If you do not stop showing utter disrespect for your teacher, you will lose fifty points from your house!" he snapped.  
  
"Do it," Jay whispered to Neville.  
  
Neville took a deep breath. The Golds watched with interest. They had dared him to do this last night.  
  
"Yes sir, Professor Pooky," Neville said.  
  
The students nearly fell off their chairs laughing. Snape lost his cool demeanor and turned red. It was not from anger.  
  
"Who told you about that?" he yelled.  
  
He looked accusingly at the Golds in the corner. They tried to look as innocent as they could when they were laughing insanely. Harry looked at the entrance to the dungeon and saw a glimpse of auburn curls before they ducked back again.  
  
*Hi, Rose.*  
  
*Oh that was SO FUNNY!* she laughed. You could tell she was laughing even through her message.  
  
"Rosemary Lillian Weasly-Potter, get up here right now!!!"  
  
*Oops.*  
  
They had forgotten to make sure Snape wasn't listening. Rose paused for a moment before walking up to her godfather's desk. Harry suddenly realized that Bill was there. And the twins.  
  
Snape grabbed Rose's shoulder and started whispering in her ear. She smirked and made some comment to him. He turned red again.  
  
Suddenly there was another noise behind them.  
  
"Gwee man!" baby James said, who was sitting in the middle of the classroom.  
  
They almost died laughing. Lily and her brother smiled at their wit and Lily decided to speak up, too.  
  
"Bat," she chirped. "Bat, bat, bat."  
  
Needless to say, all the Gryffindors got detention and one hundred points were taken. But it was most definitely worth it.  
  
"Oh, that was funny," Ginny said.  
  
They were still weak from laughing so hard.  
  
"The look on Snape's face when James called him 'grease man!'"  
  
"I can't believe they're talking already," Hermione said. "How old are they?"  
  
Ginny swiftly counted on her fingers.  
  
"Nine months."  
  
"My little babies are growing up!" Rose said from behind them.  
  
The students groaned and rolled their eyes.  
  
"Rose, please tell me you're not starting on that already," Harry said.  
  
"That was sarcasm."  
  
"Gwee man bad!" James said.  
  
"Bat," Lily said.  
  
"Aw," a group of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw third years on their way to Potions said.  
  
They smiled at the babies and the twins smiled back.  
  
"They're so cute!" one of the Hufflepuffs said. "Their eyes are so pretty! What are their names?"  
  
"Lily and James," Rose said proudly.  
  
"Oh, these are the infamous Weasly-Potter twins?" one of the Ravenclaws said.  
  
"News travels fast," Rose said. "I thought it slowed down after the Bernards moved over to Salem."  
  
The twins said their lines at the same time.  
  
"Bad gwee man!"  
  
"Bat!"  
  
The third years laughed and rushed on to Potions.  
  
"So what do you have next?" Bill asked.  
  
"Defense Against the Dark Arts," Ron said.  
  
Rose winced ever so slightly.  
  
"What do you have against DADA?" Ron asked curiously.  
  
"Ron, use your brain," Ginny said scornfully. "Consider what she's seen."  
  
"Harry's seen the same and DADA's still one of his favorite classes."  
  
"Oh, it's nothing," Rose said.  
  
She was trying to sound dismissive, but her voice had gotten higher.  
  
"Rose, does it have anything to do with Professor Lupin?"  
  
"Well, he's sort of.uncomfortable around me," she said, continuing in the high voice. "I think it's because I, eh."  
  
"You look like Mum," Harry said.  
  
"That's the understatement of all time," she said. "According to Daddy I'm practically her carbon copy. Unc- Lupin rather, eh."  
  
"Fancied Mum."  
  
"Yeah. He took Mum and Dad's death really hard. He always winces whenever he looks at me." Her voice dropped to its normal level. "But I can handle it."  
  
*Typical. She thinks she could handle a full-grown mountain troll.*  
  
*I heard that! Harrison James Potter-*  
  
"Please pipe down, Rose. You're making my head hurt."  
  
She scowled and walked in silence until they got to the DADA classroom. She took the twins and Bill's arm and dragged them all down to Hogsmeade, the twins yelling, "No! No!" the whole time. The students rolled their eyes and entered the classroom.  
  
"Today we will begin our unit on weaponry," Professor Lupin said.  
  
An excited murmur swept through the class. They had been looking forward to this ever since Lupin had turned his wand into a sword and back again.  
  
"There are directions on page 483 of your books."  
  
Harry pulled out his copy of Weaponry and Dueling for Dummies and flipped to the page about halfway through the book. There were very useful illustrations on how to hold your wand so as not to cut your hand in half when it turned. Thankfully, there were no illustrations of THAT happening.  
  
"On the count of three, please transfigure your wand. One. Two. Three. Spada bacheta!"  
  
There was a sound of whooshing metal and suddenly everyone in the class but Neville was holding a long, pointed sword with gems matching their house. When Harry looked at the hilt of his sword he noticed that his name was inscribed on the handle part.  
  
"To turn it back to a wand, simply reverse the letters." Lupin held out his sword. "Atehcab adaps!"  
  
The glittering sword turned back to a wand again. The rest of the class tried it. Jay, who always sat on the Gryffindor side of the classroom, went to coach Neville.  
  
"I do not know how she manages to do that," Ron said. "No offense to him, but Neville's dumb."  
  
"No he's not," Hermione said. "He's very smart, but slow. No one has the patience to teach him without telling him the answers."  
  
They watched as Neville's wand turned into a beautiful gold sword with ruby jewels and back to a wand.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Dinner that day, the day of November 14, became historical.  
  
It began normally enough. Everyone in their normal places except Jay. The King, Queen and Co. made her sit at the Slytherin table instead of her usual seat next to Neville. Pansy seemed to be acting unusually nice to her. It scared Jay worse than if she was against a wall with half a dozen Slytherin wands pointed at her.  
  
She sat on the right side of Pansy. Dameon sat across from her and Goyle on her left. There was another of the seventh years, Brent Nott, on Dameon's right with Crabbe on his left.  
  
Jay took a deep breath.  
  
"Okay, Parkinson. Why am I here?"  
  
She laughed softly. Jay's blood ran cold. She knew that laugh. She had heard it before. It was the laugh of the Death Eater. She leaned over and whispered in her ear.  
  
"The master's getting angry, Rawson. He doesn't like the Squib Gryffindor boyfriend."  
  
Jay's blood switched from ice cold to burning hot instantly. Her eyes turned stormy gray.  
  
"He's not a Squib and being a Gryffindor isn't a curse."  
  
"Having a Gryffindor boyfriend is a curse if Lord Voldemort is considering you for the Inner Circle."  
  
She couldn't stop herself. She was too angry with this nasty little bitch for making her into a Death Eater in the first place. She slowly stood up out of her seat.  
  
"I don't want to be part of it!" she yelled.  
  
Everyone got quiet and stared. Jay didn't care.  
  
"Leave me alone, Parkinson! You too, Morkin, Crabbe, Goyle! I don't care about my family. I care about the people I actually love."  
  
She glanced at Neville, and then glared back at Parkinson and Morkin, who scowled at her deeply. She then turned to Dumbledore.  
  
"Re-sort me!" she screamed. "I can't believe I was ever one of these bastards!"  
  
The entire student and staff were completely silent. The next sound was Dumbledore.  
  
"Accio Sorting Hat!"  
  
The Sorting Hat flew into his hand. From there he tossed it to Jay, who neatly caught it and put it on her head.  
  
"Still difficult," it muttered. "But I can see that Slytherin is not the place for you, no indeed it never was. Your Hufflepuff qualities are still there in full, and you've gotten even more intelligent. But I don't think either of those, no, I think GRYFFINDOR!"  
  
The Gryffindor table erupted into applause as Jay ran to Neville, ignoring the furious glares from Slytherins. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him on the lips to cheers and whistles from three tables. (Guess which didn't clap.)  
  
*~*~*  
  
To Neville's surprise, the teachers didn't get mad at them for kissing in front of the ENTIRE STUDENT BODY. Snape, however, scowled and Neville found that ten points mysteriously disappeared from Gryffindor's hourglass.  
  
"What were you yelling about?" he asked her later.  
  
She looked pained.  
  
"I'll tell you later, okay?"  
  
"Okay."  
  
She did. They snuck down to the common room that night at about midnight.  
  
"Good news or bad news first," she said.  
  
"Good."  
  
"I love you, and I always will. Nothing will ever make me change my mind."  
  
"That's really sweet, Jay."  
  
He went in for a kiss, but Jay put her finger on his lips.  
  
"Wait. Bad news."  
  
He braced himself for the worst.  
  
"I'm a Death Eater."  
  
He stumbled away from her and started up the stairs.  
  
"Neville, wait! Let me finish! I didn't want to be one! Do you remember Professor Binns telling us about generational Death Eater families?"  
  
He slowed. As a matter of fact, he did.  
  
"I do," Neville said. "As soon as a child reaches the age when they can be accepted into a wizarding school, they are burnt with the Dark Mark."  
  
"Do you remember O'Connell's report on a specific generational Death Eater family?"  
  
He strained his memory. No one really paid attention in History of Magic.  
  
"No."  
  
"She did the Rawsons."  
  
Neville was shocked.  
  
"Then.but they're."  
  
"Yes. My father is Lord Robert Geoffrey William Alexander Daniel Rawson III. My full name is Lady Jessica Katherine Alicia Roberta Eleanor Rawson IV."  
  
"Then as soon as you turned eleven, your parents.they had your arm."  
  
"Yes," she said quietly.  
  
She pulled up her sleeve, revealing a dark tattoo of a skull with a snake coming out of its mouth like a tongue.  
  
"Remember how I voted no for a sleeveless dress for the Halloween Ball?"  
  
Neville couldn't speak. He felt so sorry for Jay. He couldn't believe that parents could be so cruel to her.  
  
"Won't your parents be angry about you being with me?"  
  
"Very. But I don't care. Let them come."  
  
Neville was speechless. He did not deserve someone so brave, so beautiful.  
  
He reached out for her and they kissed passionately. 


	6. Summoned

I am sorry for taking so long to update but I had horrible writer's block and then I accidentally deleted half the chapter and had to completely rewrite it.  
  
Lost in Darkness  
  
Chapter 6: Summoned  
  
Parvati woke the next morning (a Saturday) to loud squeals from the common room below. She groaned and rolled out of bed to see what was so cute. She pulled on her shopping clothes as it was a Hogsmeade weekend and stumbled down the stairs. She nearly tripped over something on the way down.  
  
"James Arthur Potter!" she playfully scolded the small black-haired boy. "Tripping people isn't very nice."  
  
He smiled at her and giggled. Lily laughed from where she was sitting in the middle of a circle of girls near the couches.  
  
"Who brought the twins up here?" she asked.  
  
"Rose asked us to baby-sit," Lavender said. "She said there was something she needed to do down at the Prefect House."  
  
Parvati rolled her eyes.  
  
"I feel sorry for our poor prefects."  
  
*~*~*  
  
Rose snuck into the Prefect House and crept into her brother's room. He was still asleep, as it was only eight. That could be cured.  
  
She suddenly jumped onto his four-poster and yelled, "Wake up, Harry!"  
  
He sat up quickly, smacking his forehead on the headboard.  
  
"Rose!" he yelled. "What was that for?!"  
  
She shushed him and motioned for him to follow. They woke up the rest of the Gryffindor prefects in this way, gaining a little more noise each time. Hermione they did last.  
  
"WAKE UP, MIONE!" they all yelled at once. "YOU'RE LATE FOR POTIONS!"  
  
She reached up and somehow found her wand without even sticking her head out of the covers and hexed them all. Once she had realized who it was she quickly performed the countercurses and apologized.  
  
"Come on, Mione, it's Hogsmeade day!" Ginny told her. "We'll meet you in the Phoenix."  
  
The Golden Phoenix was the Weasly twins' restaurant in Hogsmeade especially for Hogwarts students. There was a place where you could buy their personally formulated prank supplies. Everyone went there.  
  
Rose rescued the twins from the cooing Gryffindor girls and walked them down to the Phoenix. There were plenty of students already there, but no one was at the Golds' special reserved extra-large booth. Rose slid in and put the twins in their high chair at the end.  
  
She didn't have to wait long. The Patils with Dean and Seamus appeared in about ten minutes, followed by the prefects, Neville and Jay, and the Bernard sisters.  
  
"Where are Bill and Fred and George?" Hermione asked.  
  
"Making pranks. They say they've made 'something special' for us," Rose said.  
  
"Don't accept any food they give you," Ron advised.  
  
"Oh, but why would we ever poison our little Ronnykins?" Fred asked from where he had appeared by the twins.  
  
"Frederick Jonathon Weasly, if you put any prank on my babies you will pay," Rose told him.  
  
"Oh, but why would we do that?" George said innocently.  
  
"The same for you, George Andrew Weasly."  
  
"What about me?"  
  
"Bill, you have permission. But I have no doubt that when Lily's eleven she'll be embarrassed by it."  
  
"Thinking a little too far into the future."  
  
Fred changed the subject.  
  
"I hear someone made history yesterday," he said, glancing at Jay. "A certain young Slytherin wanted to be re-Sorted and ended up a Gryffindor."  
  
"If you were meant to be a Gryffindor, why did you go into Slytherin at first?" Bill asked curiously.  
  
Jay hesitated before pulling up her sleeve. The residents up the table gasped at the hideous black tattoo.  
  
"Forced entry," she explained. "I come from a generational Death Eater family."  
  
"Which?"  
  
"Rawson."  
  
"Yow. I cannot see how you ended up a Gryffindor with a Slytherin family going that far back."  
  
"Doesn't that make you related to the Malfoys somewhere?"  
  
"Unfortunately, yes."  
  
"Where?"  
  
"I'd rather not go into that," she said delicately, taking a sip of her butterbeer.  
  
Rose noticed Padma doing something with her power, mind control. Jay seemed to go sort of weak.  
  
"Lucius Malfoy and my mother are sister and brother," she said in a flat tone.  
  
"Ugh, so that means you're Malfoy's cousin?"  
  
"Unfortunately, yes."  
  
"I feel so sorry for you."  
  
"Tell me about it."  
  
"And he still picks on you?"  
  
"Even more, in fact."  
  
"Sick bastard."  
  
Jay seemed to snap out of her trance.  
  
"Sorry," she said. "Mione, what are you going to wear for the Winter Ball?"  
  
They were having another Winter Ball this year due to its popularity in previous years.  
  
"We're all going to match," she said, indicating the other girls at the table.  
  
"It's a much more casual theme this year," Ginny added.  
  
"What do you have planned?"  
  
"You'll see. Want to match all of us?"  
  
"Sure! Thanks!"  
  
"Let's go shop!"  
  
Harry looked at his friends bemusedly.  
  
"It's the middle of November!"  
  
"Not even Thanksgiving yet," Ally said. "Best time to buy Christmas stuff: when they've just put it out. There's lots left."  
  
"What's Thanksgiving?" all the Brits but Rose said.  
  
"American holiday," Rose explained. "You know about the Pilgrims? It celebrates the day they had a really big feast with the Indians. Basically it's a whole day when people eat a lot of turkey, cranberries, dressing, and pies."  
  
"And plenty of other things we can mention," Alex said.  
  
"Sounds good to me," Ron said.  
  
"Typical," Ginny muttered. "Come on, girls, let's go shop!"  
  
The girls cheered and ran to Madame Malkin's.  
  
*~*~*  
  
"Ooh, I like this one," Ginny said, holding up an off-the-shoulders peasant blouse and skirt.  
  
"Nah," Hermione said. "This is better."  
  
She was holding a low-cut tank top with shorts.  
  
"The first was good, the second was better, but the third is best," Jay announced, holding up a shirt and skirt.  
  
"Definitely," the other girls agreed.  
  
Jay was holding a low-cut strapless shimmering tank top and a knee-length glittering tight denim skirt with a fashionably frayed end. There was a whole rack of tank tops in different colors.  
  
The girls dove for the tops. In the end, Jay got red, Mione got orange, Ginny got yellow, Parvati got green, and Padma got blue. At the last minute the Bernards swung in and said that they had gotten permission to go with the Weasly twins. Ally got a dark blue and Alex got purple.  
  
"We match perfectly," Alex said.  
  
"Now for nail polish and accessories!" Ally cheered.  
  
The Bernard sisters were excellent girls in general. They could shop, pick clothes, do hair, nails, and discuss boys- at the same time. They were also excellent Beaters. All this made them very fun to be around.  
  
"Look at these little flowers," Ally said.  
  
She was holding up a small, permanently fresh flower that looked like a tiny lily, but you could charm it different colors.  
  
"They're perfect!"  
  
"I found a hairstyle book!" Alex called from across the shop.  
  
"Ooh!"  
  
Hermione made a rush for it.  
  
"Nail polish!" Ginny called.  
  
They got nail polish that matched their tops perfectly. They bought everything and left the shop, bags swinging and pockets considerably lighter.  
  
They were interrupted from their happy chatter by a yelp from Jay. They jumped and stared at her. Her eyes were wide and she was clutching her arm.  
  
"Very, very, very bad!" she whispered anxiously. "I've been summoned!"  
  
At about the same time, the Golds felt a noticeable tingle in their arms. They were also being summoned.  
  
"Go Disapparate over there," Hermione said, discreetly nodding at a dark alley.  
  
Jay scampered over and disappeared.  
  
"Let's go!" Alex whispered.  
  
They ran back to the Phoenix to meet Rose and the boys. They dropped the twins off with the Gryffindor girls and left a group of seventh year Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws in charge. Rose drew the circle in the dirt required for group Apparition and they disappeared.  
  
They appeared in the Order of the Phoenix's Hall with the High Order. The American Seeker, Emily Grumman, was in her normal chair in her usual lounging position. Minerva McGonagall and her younger sister Gretchen were sitting straight up in their chairs. Severus Snape looked even more surly than usual. The founders of the Order were there, too, which was rather rare. Well, all the founders which were still alive.  
  
That meant Dumbledore, Sirius, Lupin, Mad-Eye Moody, Mundungus Fletcher, and Arabella Figg. There were two of these that were High, Snape and Minerva McGonagall. The other two founders were none other than James and Lily Potter.  
  
"We have heard of your relationship with the Rawson girl," the mysterious man at the head of the table said.  
  
The Golds had never seen his face, or the face of the woman next to him. All the Golds could tell about them was that they were very, very, old.  
  
"What about it?" Rose said defiantly.  
  
"She is a Death Eater," the woman said. "She is quite a powerful one, in fact."  
  
"Stay away from her," the man advised.  
  
Rose's eyes began to show a hint of violet.  
  
"She was forced into it," she said stubbornly.  
  
"Even so, the Dark Lord may put her under the Imperius curse and use her to get rid of all of you."  
  
"The next order of business," the woman continued, "is Ailani Sanyu Robertson. We know she is a witch and we know about the child she speaks of. His last name is Malfoy-Riddle."  
  
"Nice combination," Rose said sarcastically. "Lucius Malfoy and Lucretia Diabolique?"  
  
"Yes. The Dark Lord knows that with that combination and young Rawson, he can throw away Malfoy and O'Connell as heirs. He will have a combination of Riddle and Malfoy and a combination of Rawson and Malfoy. Things can't get much more powerful."  
  
"Jay would never side with him," Ginny said firmly.  
  
"Not willingly. But he might force her to. You have three jobs. One. Protect Ailani Robertson. Two. Protect Jessica Rawson. She is being forced into the inner circle right now, as we speak. Three. Find the child, Reagan Malfoy-Riddle. When you do, bring him to us."  
  
"What does the boy look like?" Fred asked briskly.  
  
"Black hair, green eyes with occasional hints of red. If you find someone and suspect it's him, make him angry. If it's not him, he just throws a tantrum like every typical four-year-old. If it is him, his eyes turn red and you will slam against the nearest wall."  
  
"Charming," Hermione said with a grimace.  
  
"Is that all?" Rose asked with just a small hint of sarcasm.  
  
"Yes. You may return now."  
  
And they were back in the Hogwarts commons and Hogsmeade.  
  
*~*~*  
  
As soon as she was back in her room, Padma immediately went to find Jay. First she grabbed a goblet and drank it down. Her hour was almost up. Then she grabbed a tiny box of brown hair and dropped a lock of it into a cup hidden by a spare robe. The cup hissed and steamed, but Padma drank it all. Nasty stuff, that Polyjuice Potion.  
  
She snuck out of the Gryffindor dorms as Jay and darted into the prefects' house. There were two portraits, one of Godric Gryffindor and Helga Hufflepuff, the other of Salazar Slytherin and Rowena Ravenclaw. She ran to the portrait of Gryffindor and Hufflepuff.  
  
"Bion!" she gasped.  
  
Gryffindor smiled and the portrait swung aside. Two more portraits showed, one of Gryffindor, the other of Hufflepuff.  
  
"Courage of the heart is rare," she said.  
  
The portrait swung aside, revealing the Slytherin commons. Luckily, they were empty. She ran through the portrait and watched it disappear back into part of the stone wall.  
  
Padma ran up the staircase into what was labeled as the Slytherin seventh year girls' dorms. She stuck her head through the door just a little.  
  
Jay was sitting on her bed doing homework. Padma hissed at her from the door.  
  
"Psst! Come on! She whispered. "We need to get back to the prefect house."  
  
"Who is it?" she whispered back. "I gave hair to the other girls, too."  
  
"It's Padma. Come on, the others need to talk to you. Catch."  
  
Padma cast an invisibility spell over Jay. She disappeared. Padma sensed her following back down the stairs. Once they were back through the two portraits, Padma suddenly whirled and pinned Jay against the wall.  
  
"Hey! Padma, what are you-"  
  
"I'm not Padma," she hissed.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Jay watched the girl she had thought was her friend with terror. She watched her face shift from a mirror of her own back to Padma's face. But it didn't stop. From that the face became longer, her nose changed, her eyes.  
  
Jay gasped. She knew that face.  
  
"Mother?" 


	7. Discoveries

Lost in Darkness  
  
Chapter Seven: Discoveries  
  
Jay watched the girl she had thought was her friend, terrified. She watched "Padma's" face shift from a mirror of Jay's own back to Padma's face. But it didn't stop. From that the face became longer, her nose changed, her eyes.  
  
Jay gasped. She knew that face.  
  
"Mother?"  
  
"That's right," Lady Jessica Katherine Alicia Roberta Eleanor Malfoy Rawson III hissed.  
  
"Get your hands off me!" Jay screamed desperately.  
  
"Why should I do that? The Dark Lord told me of your refusal to join his inner circle."  
  
"Mother, I'm not like you!" Jay screamed desperately. "I'm not even a Slytherin! I'm a Gryffindor! I don't want to be his heir! I don't want Draco to be his heir either, or O'Connell! And I hate Reagan Malfoy- Riddle!"  
  
Her mother dropped her and staggered backwards in shock. This gave Jay a very good advantage. She turned and shoved her mother against the wall.  
  
"You didn't think I'd never use all the training you gave me? You taught me the Unforgivables before I was even old enough to go into school. And you thought I'd obey your every command? Sorry, mother. Battuo!"  
  
Lady Rawson's head slammed backwards into the wall. A small trickle of blood dripped down onto the floor.  
  
"How long have you been posing as the prefects? Who are the others?"  
  
Her mother glared at her with hate obvious in her eyes.  
  
"Ever since the Master acquired the prefects, the same time he killed the Mudblooded Durseley boy. The same time he killed the Abbott girl's fiancée."  
  
Jay shook her head.  
  
"I hate you," she hissed. "Do not ever come near me again."  
  
"Put her down," the voice of one of the other prefects called from the top of the stairs.  
  
It was Terry Boot. Jay knew Terry was the Ravenclaw boy who had been kidnapped. That meant that "Terry" was actually a Death Eater.  
  
"Not a chance, Death Eater," she told him.  
  
"We have wands on you," he said.  
  
His voice was changing already, becoming deeper.  
  
"No!" Jay screamed.  
  
She recognized that voice. It was her father, the Lord Robert Rawson III.  
  
"Jessica Katherine Alicia Roberta Eleanor Rawson, put your mother down!"  
  
"I have no mother!"  
  
"Drop her," another voice commanded.  
  
"Back off," a familiar voice said.  
  
Jay sighed in relief.  
  
"Harry! I'm so glad you got here!"  
  
"Who are you holding by the throat?"  
  
"I'll tell you later."  
  
*Stun them!* she screamed desperately. *Stun them all!*  
  
*~*~*  
  
Harry suppressed his surprise at the fact that Jay was telepathic. Instead he focused on the other Golds around him.  
  
*On the count of three. One. Two. Three!*  
  
"Stupefy!" eleven voices yelled.  
  
(A/N: For all you slow people, those 11 are Bill, Rose, Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Parvati, Fred, George, Alex, and Ally.)  
  
The Death Eaters fell to the floor. Parvati ran forward.  
  
"Where's Padma?" she demanded.  
  
"She was this," Jay said contemptuously, kicking her mother's foot. "Polyjuice Potion. All of these. These are the Hogwarts prefects."  
  
"I can't believe we fell for it," Harry said as he shook his head.  
  
"I can," Jay said bitterly. "My parents were actors in the sixties."  
  
"So these are your family?" Ginny said.  
  
"Sadly, yes."  
  
"I thought you were Muggle-born," Hermione said.  
  
"I don't like to talk about my family. If I say I'm Muggle-born, then no one pesters me to know about my family tree. Now what do we do with these?"  
  
"We should really get Professor Dumbledore," Ginny suggested.  
  
"I will," Rose and Harry said at the same time.  
  
They bolted.  
  
"What's up with them?" Jay said quizzically.  
  
"Think about what the Death Eaters have done to their family," Hermione said.  
  
"They were barely able to keep from doing something stronger than a Stunning Spell," Ginny said grimly.  
  
"How do you know that?"  
  
Hermione looked at Ginny. Jay could tell that they were talking to each other by the expressions on their faces, but they'd sealed off the frequency. She couldn't listen.  
  
"We tell her," they said at the same time.  
  
"Settle down, Jay," Ginny told her gently. "This is kind of complicated."  
  
*~*~*  
  
"YOU TOLD HER ABOUT THE ORDER?!?!?!" Rose screeched at her young cousin and sister-in-law.  
  
"She wanted to know," Ginny tried to explain.  
  
"THE ORDER IS COMPLETELY TOP SECRET!!! I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU DID NOT HAVE THE PRESENCE OF MIND TO MAKE UP AN EXCUSE!!!"  
  
"Rose!" Hermione yelled. "She's a White!"  
  
Rose quieted down. White was one of the levels of the Order of the Phoenix closer to the bottom. The levels of the actual Order were White, Bronze, Silver and Gold. There were other levels for those still in training. White meant that Jay was just out of training, telepathic but her individual skill not yet fully developed. This would explain how she was exceptionally good at all of her classes but two: Herbology and Potions, two of the hardest.  
  
"She is? Why didn't we feel it before?"  
  
"She only just advanced to White this afternoon. She was Grey before that."  
  
"Mione, I have a little pop quiz," Rose said carefully. She wanted to know where her cousin had found the information about the other levels of the Order. "Recite the levels of the Order in order."  
  
Rose had subtly woven her voice with certain tones that made people very, shall we say, susceptible to requests. In short, mind control.  
  
"Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, purple, black, grey, white, bronze, silver, and gold."  
  
"And Jay started at."  
  
"Somewhere around Green or Blue."  
  
"And where exactly did you learn all of this?"  
  
"From Jay, who learned it from her mother." Hermione realized what she had said. "Cheat!"  
  
"I was not cheating. You would never have told me otherwise."  
  
Hermione scowled, realizing Rose was right.  
  
Rose looked over at the Ministry officials who were currently arresting the Death Eaters. One of the officials hurried over to Jay and started talking to her. Rose perked up her ears.  
  
"Do you know who these people are?" he was asking Jay.  
  
"Exactly. Lord Robert Rawson III, his wife, Lady Jessica Rawson III, and their daughter, Kerry Rawson. Kerry Rawson is twenty-."  
  
The man took out a notepad and jotted down the names.  
  
"And what is your name?"  
  
"Jessica Rawson."  
  
The man paused.  
  
"Then are you any relation to Lord Robert Rawson and Lady Jessica Rawson?"  
  
"Yes," she said coolly. "I am their daughter."  
  
The man jogged over to another Ministry official. He told him something, and they both went back to Jay.  
  
"Miss, we need to ask you a few questions about.well, about a few things."  
  
Rose's finely tuned telepathic skills figured out exactly what. Her blood pumped hot and her eyes sparked purple. She stepped forward and put her arm on Jay's shoulder.  
  
"Excuse me," she said coldly. "Where are you taking Jay?"  
  
"With us," the first man said. He seemed like the young, arrogant type. "She's from a generational family. She's old enough to be in his inner circle, even."  
  
Rose stepped forward. The man noticed her scar and how her eyes were glowing violet fire. Rose felt her scar getting warm, too. It did sometimes when she was very mad.  
  
"Listen, buddy," she snarled. "Jay would not harm a soul. Is it her fault she comes from a family that sucks? No, it is not. Understand?"  
  
The man nodded. Rose layered her voice again.  
  
"Now turn around and go back to your superiors. Tell them that Jay is perfectly innocent and that you have the names of the Death Eaters."  
  
The man nodded again. He and his pal scuttled off.  
  
"Thanks, Rose," Jay said gratefully.  
  
"No problem, Jay. Now, I have a question for you. Voldemort raised you to White, didn't he?"  
  
Jay's shoulders sagged.  
  
"Yes, and I do know what that means. My power has already begun to develop, so I feel stronger thoughts and emotions." She smiled sadly. "I'm empathic, you see."  
  
Rose instantly felt sorry for her. One of the hardest but the most common power was empathy. Empaths experienced terrible migraines and were extremely weak for quite a while when the power was first developing. It also made you very susceptible to suggestions and disease. She changed the subject.  
  
"Jay, we've found out something else about you. You need to be watched."  
  
"I knew that was coming."  
  
"Parvati is going to put wards around your bed every night. She's switched beds so she is right next to you. Parvati's very good at wards; not much should get through. Does that sound good?"  
  
"For now."  
  
There was a loud pop from someone Disapparating. Jay winced slightly. Rose rested a cool hand on her shoulder and brought down the level of her headache.  
  
"You should go take a nap," she suggested. "It helps a lot."  
  
Jay looked at her with childlike interest.  
  
"You're empathic, too? Do the headaches go away?"  
  
"Actually, I'm multi-talented; basically meaning Harry and I are both freakish abnormalities with all the powers. And yes, they do go away, but you have to be Silver first."  
  
"That's two levels!"  
  
"That's why naps are good. But make sure to take a dreamless sleep potion. Recent Whites have a tendency to have really horrible dreams."  
  
"Sure," Jay said gratefully.  
  
Rose guided her back to her room.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Jay lay curled up in a ball on her bed, her fingers pressed hard to her temples. Why, oh why couldn't she have been a healer or something nice like that? Why empathy? Oh, she hated the Dark Lord, absolutely hated him.  
  
She had only pretended to take the dreamless sleep potion Rose had given her. She wanted those dreams. She wanted to see one, just one. She was curious.  
  
She hadn't yet been told about the group dreaming issue.  
  
Jay pulled out her wand and cast the wards before falling asleep.  
  
She was sitting in a clearing of trees. The Hogwarts prefects sat on the other side of it. They looked ragged and bloody.  
  
A Death Eater suddenly appeared right in front of her. He was holding a wand, pointed right at her.  
  
"Where is the Mudblood girl?" he hissed.  
  
"I don't know who you are talking about," Jay replied.  
  
She sounded defiant, though she didn't know why.  
  
"Where's the boy, Reagan?"  
  
"I don't know any boys named Reagan."  
  
"Crucio!" he yelled.  
  
Jay felt like thousands of knives were pressing on her skin. She screamed and writhed on the ground. She tried her hardest to resist, but the pain was too terrible.  
  
"Hogsmeade!" she cried. "They're in Hogsmeade!"  
  
She passed out and woke up at the same time. Rose, Hermione, and Ginny came bursting into the room.  
  
"Jay, you didn't take the potion, did you?" Rose asked angrily.  
  
"I was curious!"  
  
"High-level Phoenix Order dreams aren't just little things your brain makes up! They're predictions! And all the other Phoenixes White or above within a hundred-mile radius see it, too!"  
  
"So you saw it?"  
  
"Yes, I did."  
  
She reached up and scratched her arm.  
  
"And we are being summoned AGAIN."  
  
Jay felt a slight itchy tingle in her right upper arm, where Voldemort had burned the Phoenix tattoo in, right above the Dark Mark. She rolled up her sleeve. The white phoenix was shining with a faint pinkish glow where its heart would be.  
  
"Hey, you get to meet the highest levels of the Order," Hermione said. "You already know most of them."  
  
"I don't think so."  
  
"They're mostly professors."  
  
"Come on, we need to go!" Rose said.  
  
They ran for the site that they always Apparated from.  
  
*~*~*  
  
"Stupid, stupid High Phoenixes!" Rose complained bitterly.  
  
They had just come back from their Summons. The High Level Phoenixes had ruled that Rose, Sirius, Bill, James and Lily had to move to Hogwarts to keep a closer eye on things. For the rest of the year.  
  
"Come on, Rose, it's not that bad," Bill said in a lame attempt to comfort his raging wife.  
  
"Yes it is! This is completely ruining my hopes for a job!"  
  
"Why? You don't need a job in Hogsmeade."  
  
"Bill, the job testing for the Firebolt Company was almost a sure thing! Now I can't even step outside to empty the trash unless I have at least three people with me!"  
  
"You can get a job teaching. Sub for Lupin and Snape."  
  
"Sure. Father subs for Lupin and I sub for him. Yeah, right. I may be good at Potions, but I have no desire to get fume poisoning."  
  
Fume poisoning was a disease strictly experienced by Potions Masters, Mistresses, and teachers. It was caused by inhaling large amounts of potion fumes. Very unpleasant disease. The body was literally eaten from the inside.  
  
"Neither do I. Sub for Lupin and Snape stays in his class."  
  
"They wouldn't pay me."  
  
"That can be changed."  
  
"We need another income. Yours isn't enough for both us and the twins."  
  
"Get a job at the school again. Dumbledore says he's bringing back a few old classes that I think you have some experience in."  
  
"What?"  
  
He grinned.  
  
"Snape is teaching part of one, but the job requires two teachers. Personal Hygiene."  
  
"Want to make a bet on how many students charm his hair clean?"  
  
"The other class also needs two teachers. One is Lupin."  
  
"They're bringing back Dueling?! Yes!"  
  
*~*~*  
  
"Look! Harry! They're bringing back the Dueling Club!"  
  
Harry jumped over the over students in order to see the board. Sure enough, there would be a Dueling Class at eight in the Great Hall.  
  
"Who's teaching?" Ginny asked.  
  
"I know Lupin is," Ron said.  
  
"But there has to be another teacher."  
  
"We'll see."  
  
Four came around quickly. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny all went. Lupin was already there. The other teacher was not.  
  
"Welcome to our new Dueling Class," Professor Lupin welcomed. "This will be quite different from your previous Dueling Club. You will be taught ways to use defensive and offensive magic with and without a wand."  
  
That got everyone's attention. Lupin continued.  
  
"I'm sure you've all done some forms of wandless magic, mostly when you were quite young. A cookie flying into your hand, a shattered window when you were angry. What most people don't know is that such 'formless' magic can be directed."  
  
There was a sudden screech of heels as Rose slid into the Great Hall. She threw her cloak onto a chair and ran to join Lupin.  
  
"Sorry I'm late," she muttered.  
  
"It's okay," Lupin stammered back. Aloud he said, "Please welcome Professor Weasly-Potter. Those of you that were here in fifth year will recall that she was our Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Yes, I know she used to be Professor Potter."  
  
There was tremendous applause from all houses but Slytherin, who booed.  
  
"Professor Weasly-Potter has agreed to demonstrate a simple wandless defense charm."  
  
They backed up about ten paces each and bowed to each other. Lupin pointed his wand at her.  
  
"Battuo!"  
  
The spell came speeding towards Rose. Rose threw up her hands, palm outwards, and threw them quickly to the left. The spell rebounded off some invisible shield and hit the wall just over Lupin's right shoulder. The students clapped politely.  
  
"That is what is called a 'reflex spell.' Professor Weasly-Potter threw up her palms and pointed them towards the Boxer's Curse I cast, and her magic sensed the danger and made a shield. Usually a spell bouncing off a shield like that would backfire on the caster, but Professor Weasly-Potter pushed the spell up and over a bit. Try it yourselves. Simple spells only!" he warned. "If I hear anything stronger than the Boxer's Curse the caster will have detention for a month!"  
  
The Golds made sure not to pair up with a Slytherin, instead pairing with each other. Ginny went with Hermione, Harry went with Ron, and Seamus went with Parvati. They each deflected the spells but Seamus, who got hit with the Boxer's Curse and got a bloody nose.  
  
"That was a fun lesson," Ginny said cheerfully.  
  
"Whatever you say," Seamus said.  
  
He was dabbing at his nose with a tissue. Hermione reached up and touched his nose. The bleeding stopped.  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"No problem."  
  
"When's the Winter Ball?"  
  
"Christmas Eve, dummy."  
  
"Shut up, Dean."  
  
"Don't be a prat, Seamus."  
  
"I'm a prat?"  
  
"Both of you shut up!"  
  
They did. Hermione was very good at shutting them up.  
  
"So who do you think the Slytherins are going to replace O'Connell and Durseley with?" Harry said.  
  
"No idea."  
  
"We need a new player, too. Two, actually. One Beater and a Chaser. Charlie Johnson and Danny Johnstone didn't start the year. Their parents are too paranoid; they think Hogwarts is going to be attacked by Death Eaters. Any suggestions?"  
  
Everyone looked at Jay.  
  
"What, me?" she asked, pointing at herself. "Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no, no, no."  
  
"Didn't you say you played on Krum's team?"  
  
"He may be a nasty, cheating son of a bitch," Hermione said, "but he's a really good Quidditch player. He taught me."  
  
"All right, all right, I'll play for you people," Jay said.  
  
"Chaser or Beater?"  
  
"I was Chaser on my old team."  
  
"Then Chaser it is."  
  
"Who for Beater?"  
  
"Excuse me, but I have an idea," Jay admitted. "When I say it, promise not to laugh or interrupt me until I finish."  
  
"Okay."  
  
"Neville." She held up her hand. "You promised. You didn't think I was teaching him only classes did you? I've been teaching him how to play Quidditch. He's an excellent Beater. Please, please give him a chance."  
  
Her companions sighed. Jay was very good at convincing people. Too good.  
  
"He can try out. I'll hold invitation tryouts, just because I don't what the Creevey brothers showing up."  
  
"I agree."  
  
"Who else should we send invitations to?"  
  
"I dunno."  
  
"Ahem!"  
  
"NO, Seamus. No offense, but on the first day of flying lessons, you fell on your ass."  
  
"It wasn't my ass. It was my back."  
  
"Right."  
  
"Oh, just send invites to the whole house."  
  
"NOT the Creeveys."  
  
"Speaking of Creeveys-"  
  
They heard the telltale click of a camera shutter.  
  
"-they're right behind us."  
  
"Oh, no," Harry groaned.  
  
*Okay. Pretend you don't see or hear them, and quickly but casually walk back to the prefect house.*  
  
*Wow, thanks, Mione. What's the Invisibility Spell you use to wander around and spy with?*  
  
*I won't say.*  
  
*Hermione!*  
  
*Oh, fine. The Invisibility spell is Imkiliarus.*  
  
*Imkiliarus!*  
  
Harry disappeared. The Creevey brothers looked very confused and started looking around, as if Harry had Apparated behind them to grab them by the backs of their necks.  
  
When they got back to the prefect house, Harry still had not figured out how to make himself visible again.  
  
"Mione, Please, please tell me?"  
  
"Why should I do that when it's so fun to hear your disembodied voice pleading with me?"  
  
"Hermione!"  
  
"Oh, I'd better tell you, else Ginny can't make out with you and she'll go into snog withdrawal."  
  
"Mione!" Ginny protested.  
  
Her cheeks were bright red. Harry's probably were, too, except you couldn't see them.  
  
"Okay. It's Ilikmiarus."  
  
"Ilikmiarus!"  
  
Harry shimmered into view. Hermione's guess had been right. He was bright red.  
  
"That was so funny!"  
  
"Was not!"  
  
"Whatever."  
  
They laughed and started on their homework.  
  
*~*~*  
  
The rest of the month was fairly uneventful. Gryffindor won against Hufflepuff later that month, due to their new Chaser and their excellent new Beater, Neville. Several Hufflepuffs had gotten broken noses for underestimating Neville.  
  
"He's really very skilled and smart and quite powerful," Jay had told them. "No one cares about him much, so he doesn't think he's good at anything. That makes him not good in real life. You just need patience."  
  
Apparently, patience was something Jay possessed in abundance. Neville's grades shot up and he had much more confidence. Jay and he walked everywhere together, as they had identical schedules. Jay's grade in Herbology had gone from a D to an A.  
  
Christmas rolled around quickly. Rose kept bringing the twins around to the common room. They were already walking and had been taught several rude names for people, thanks to Fred, George, and Sirius. They were incredibly advanced for their age, now ten months.  
  
Poor Dean wasn't going to the Winter Ball since Padma still hadn't been found. She was under a Shield Charm, which could be broken only by a Rainbow Spell. Unfortunately, Padma was one of the few people who could perform it. The only possible substitutes hadn't been trained, which would take weeks. So Dean would have to sit around in the common room unless one of the other girls decided to go with him.  
  
Danny Anderson was bringing Oliver Wood. She was absolutely thrilled to be engaged to the Keeper for Puddlemere United.  
  
Dean was dawdling in the halls one day after classes, thinking about death, when a ghost flew right through him. She whirled quickly.  
  
"Oh!" she said in a high voice with an Irish accent. "I'm so sorry. I didn't realize you were there."  
  
She was very pretty, with shoulder-length ringlets that looked like they must have been black in life. Her eyes were very wide, and still a shocking blue even after death, and she was wearing a very fancy medieval gown. There were no signs of stab wounds or rope burns, and she looked about thirty or so.  
  
"Who are you?" he asked curiously.  
  
"I'm Keena. Keena Charlotte Gryffindor Potter."  
  
Dean looked surprised.  
  
"Any relation to Harry Potter?"  
  
She laughed.  
  
"As a matter of fact, yes. I'm his great-grandmother. Obviously I don't mean I'm his grandmother's mother. I'm an ancestor of his."  
  
"You must be Godric Gryffindor's daughter."  
  
"Yes. His youngest."  
  
"It must have been wonderful to be around when Hogwarts was founded."  
  
"It was. There were these two teachers very popular with my older sister and me. We both ended up marrying one. I married Thomas Potter, and my sister married Daniel Weasly."  
  
"Were the other founders interesting?"  
  
"Oh, yes," Keena said eagerly. She seemed not to have met too many people. "All but Slytherin. He was jealous of my father, because my father had the power to speak to all things furred. Slytherin could only talk to snakes, and snakes aren't exactly really helpful things. Mammals are very friendly and will be quite helpful most of the time. So Slytherin heard about when my baby brother was born and he went and killed him and my mother. So my entire family ended up as ghosts because we needed to stay around and avenge his death. Unfortunately, we all failed and he died of natural causes."  
  
Dean accidentally dropped his books.  
  
"You mean the entire Gryffindor family is still floating around Hogwarts?" he croaked.  
  
"Yes. But Father generally hides. Mother stays with him, and my sister Harriet is obsessed with the library. I jump out of walls and scare people; lovely things like that."  
  
"You don't seem to do that too much. If anyone had seen the daughter of one of the founders they would tell half the school, if not all."  
  
There was a loud bang and a cackle somewhere down the hallway.  
  
"Peeves," Keena said. She leaned close to Dean and whispered in his ear. "Tell Rose that Keena and Harriet say hi."  
  
And she jumped through the wall. Dean gathered his books and ran before he bumped into Peeves.  
  
*~*~*  
  
The Winter Ball was the next day. Dean had decided he was going to mope in his room. The girls decided to cheer him up a bit and persuaded Lavender Brown, who had no date, to ask him. He was quite grateful and accepted. Lavender wore Padma's outfit, the one they had picked at Halloween.  
  
"I think we should all match," Hermione said. "We almost always do and it looks nice."  
  
"Sure," Alex said. "Ally and I can do hair."  
  
"Sure!"  
  
Alex and Ally twisted the girls' hair into buns in the middle of their heads. There were a few strands of hair left out to dangle on the shoulders. It looked nice, as the shirts were strapless.  
  
"Jay, you have such good taste in clothes," Ginny said admiringly.  
  
"I think the colors work out," Jay said.  
  
"They're perfect," Hermione told her.  
  
"Thanks, Mione."  
  
Jay stared at her glittering red nails, the same color as her tank top. She was nervous for some reason. She wasn't sure whether to trust her sense or not. All her senses had been acting up since she became White.  
  
"Ready?" Lavender said.  
  
"Ready!"  
  
They had arranged to meet the boys in the Great Hall.  
  
"Let's go!"  
  
All seven girls swung down the stairs and ran into the Great Hall. It was covered in the traditional decorations. The Christmas trees nearly brushed the ceiling. There were tables for four spread out along the edges of the Hall. They looked as if they were made of ice.  
  
"Where are the boys?" Ginny said as she scanned the room.  
  
"Over there," Hermione said, pointing.  
  
There was an unusually large table that could seat sixteen. (A/N: For you slow people, they are Harry and Ginny, Ron and Hermione, Ally and George, Alex and Fred, Neville and Jay, Lavender and Dean, and Seamus and Parvati.)  
  
"You should have seen McGonagall's face when Fred tried to 'quietly' push four tables together," Ron said, laughing.  
  
Jay smiled, but knew she was pale. She leaned heavily on the table as she sat down. Neville noticed. Such a nice guy.  
  
"Jay, anything wrong?' he asked her.  
  
"Nothing," she lied. "Just a little tired."  
  
"The teachers have been unusually cruel lately," Ron commented.  
  
"The N.E.W.T.s are coming up," Hermione said. "We need to be prepared."  
  
"Prepared does not mean worked to death," Seamus commented.  
  
"I have been staying up until one in the morning lately," Dean said. "How about you, Jay?"  
  
"Um, not that late," she fibbed again.  
  
"Lucky."  
  
Everyone picked up their menus and ordered. Jay got a salad, but didn't eat more than about two leaves. The rest she pushed around her plate so it looked like she'd eaten more. No one noticed.  
  
Music began to play, Muggle again. Neville was eager to dance after his success at the Halloween Ball, but Jay felt a little dizzy. They went into the garden instead.  
  
There were ice benches charmed to feel warm and they were under a huge glass dome constructed just for the event. It was about seventy degrees Fahrenheit, so they were quite warm.  
  
"Jay, something's wrong," Neville said. "I know you say you're just tired, but it's more than that."  
  
She sighed and sat down onto a bench.  
  
"Kerry and my parents escaped from Azkaban."  
  
"Oh, no."  
  
Jay felt something like a bubble swelling up inside of her, inflating and inflating until it popped.  
  
She hugged Neville and started sobbing on his shoulder.  
  
"And plus there's all the work we have and Snape's been picking on me and my grades are dropping and the Slytherins have been beating me up again," she cried hysterically. "I can't take it! Durmstrang was almost worse!"  
  
Neville awkwardly patted his sobbing girlfriend on the back. Jay knew he could feel the bones poking out.  
  
"Jay, why didn't you tell me any of this?" he asked quietly.  
  
"I didn't want to worry you. Ever since your gram got sick, you've been really stressed."  
  
He pulled away.  
  
"How could you tell?"  
  
"I just could," she said irritably.  
  
The room started to sway a little. She put her hand on the bench and steadied herself.  
  
"Whoa, Jay. You need to get back to the common rooms. You're completely exhausted."  
  
Jay didn't fight as Neville helped her up the stairs. She didn't even make it to her dorm. She passed out somewhere in between the garden and the common room. She vaguely felt herself being lifted, carried, laid into bed, and felt Neville kiss her gently on the forehead. She tried to thank him, but her voice didn't work. She dropped off immediately after he left.  
  
*~*~*  
  
George and Ally were furiously making out behind the bushes. They knew they weren't the only ones, too. Alex and Fred had disappeared behind some bushes a few minutes ago.  
  
"George, I will love you forever," Ally said between kisses.  
  
"And I will love you just as much," George said back.  
  
They leaned away, but continued holding hands. George took a small breath.  
  
"There's something I want to ask you."  
  
Ally looked up at him, hardly daring to believe it.  
  
"I've wanted to for a long time, but I didn't really have the nerve. Neville's little speech about Gryffindors being brave is what inspired me."  
  
He took a small velvet box from his pocket and went down on one knee. He popped the lid of the box, revealing a single gold ring, encrusted with diamonds.  
  
"Alice Summer Bernard, will you marry me?"  
  
Ally didn't answer for a moment, then pulled him up and hugged him.  
  
"Yes! Yes! Of course I will!"  
  
He slid the ring onto her finger and they kissed again.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Behind the bushes, things between Alex and Fred were really heating up.  
  
"I swear that I would rather die than be without you," Alex said as they passionately kissed.  
  
"I love you, Alexa Autumn Bernard."  
  
She increased the pressure a bit. Fred went for the tie on her tank top. She started to unzip his pants.  
  
They didn't know how big of a mistake they were making. 


	8. Christmas Part One

The first prequel to U&S is now posted! Rose tells about her childhood! The title is A Silver Lining.  
  
I know this chappie's short but I wanted to update! Reactions will be in next chappie!  
  
Lost in Darkness  
  
Chapter Eight: Snowball: Christmas Part One  
  
"Mione, wake up," Ginny said as she shook the girl's shoulder. "It's Christmas!"  
  
Hermione jumped up.  
  
"It is?" she said with childlike pleasure. "Come on, let's go get the others!"  
  
They woke up Harry and Ron and dragged them to the perfect common room, where a huge pile of presents sat inviting the prefects to tear away the wrapping paper.  
  
They dove in immediately. Hermione got lots of books, with which she was very pleased, Ron got lots of candy and prank supplies, with which he was extremely pleased, and Ginny and Harry got combinations of both, pleasing them immensely.  
  
"The rest of the Weasleys are going to be at Rose's house," Harry said.  
  
"We're going to have a huge snowball fight," Ron said anxiously. "Oh, very funny Ginny, very funny."  
  
He had just unwrapped his present from Ginny, a diary. The part which he thought was not amusing was the tag.  
  
"Just like your head, it must be forcibly filled with information. Ginny," Harry read aloud.  
  
"Come on, we need to get to Rose's!" Hermione said.  
  
They pulled on cloaks and warm clothes and got the rest of the gang. Ally and George were there, but Fred and Alex were not. They were quite disappointed, as Alex and Fred were some of the best snowball fighters ever to go to Hogwarts. Gretchen and Sirius filled in.  
  
They split into teams. Team Dragon was all boys, Harry, George, Ron, Bill, and Sirius. Team Unicorn was the girls, Ginny, Ally, Hermione, Rose, and Gretchen. They built forts to hide behind and began.  
  
"We are so winning!" Ally yelled over the wall.  
  
"You are so not!" George yelled back.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Rose pitched a snowball over the wall of the fort and heard a satisfying yell from Ron.  
  
"Ha!" she yelled.  
  
Ally's gloves had fallen off. Rose saw something on her finger glinting.  
  
"Bernard, what's on your finger?" Rose said sternly.  
  
Ally quickly pulled her glove back on.  
  
"Nothing."  
  
"Liar."  
  
She made a grab for the gloved hand. Ally was too surprised to respond. Rose shrieked at the sight of the diamond ring.  
  
"Oh my God!" she yelled. "You're engaged?!"  
  
The snowball war reached dead stop.  
  
"How long? Why didn't you tell me?"  
  
"Just since last night!" Ally said defensively.  
  
"That's great!"  
  
Their discussion was ended when five snowballs fell into their midst. The girls retaliated by taking two buckets of snow, packing it into a hard iceball, and knocking down the guys' fort. The boys immediately surrendered.  
  
"Team Unicorn wins by a long shot!" Rose yelled. "Team Dragon LOST!!! Ha!"  
  
"Now you tell more about the ring!" Hermione said eagerly.  
  
Ally and George exchanged guilty looks.  
  
"He asked me last night. Remember when all four of us went outside? That's when George asked me to marry him."  
  
"Where are Fred and Alex?" Rose said. "They're going to miss Molly and Arthur!"  
  
Ally looked guilty again. Rose glared at her and talked to her privately.  
  
*What's wrong with Alex? Tell me. Now.*  
  
Ally glared at her.  
  
"I'm not telling," she said aloud.  
  
George tapped her on the arm and whispered in her ear. Rose strained to hear what they were saying, but they were too quiet. It must be really serious.  
  
Ally took a deep breath and looked at the crowd gathered in the field.  
  
"Alex's pregnant," she said quietly. 


	9. Christmas Part Two

Lost in Darkness  
  
Chapter Nine: WHAT?!  
  
"Alex's pregnant," Ally said quietly.  
  
"WHAT?!" George and Rose said together.  
  
"She is in such big trouble," Rose said furiously. "I told her to wait until she was married, I TOLD her! Now look where she is!"  
  
"I told Fred not to try anything like that, ever," George said, shaking. "Now he's going to be a father at nineteen. Nineteen! With a twenty-two year old woman!"  
  
Rose stormed into the house. Harry followed.  
  
"Rose, what was that for?"  
  
"Do you have any idea what it is like to be the child of unmarried parents?" Rose screamed, whirling suddenly to face her brother. "Do you know what it's like to walk around with people hissing 'Bastard child' in your ear?"  
  
Harry was taken aback. He had never seen Rose this angry, at least, not at him. Her eyes were spitting violet, but her face looked hurt.  
  
Rose had been born in October of Lily's and James's fifth year. She had always seemed passive about it, until now.  
  
"It's torture!" Rose yelled. "It took me years to forgive our parents! I didn't fully forgive them until.," her voice softened. "Until it was too late."  
  
She looked away. Harry smiled at her and touched her arm.  
  
"They've known," he said softly. "They always have."  
  
"How would you know?" Rose said bitterly, shoving his hand away.  
  
"I just do. I trust my instincts."  
  
Rose picked up the twins from their playsets and carried them into the library. She slammed the door shut. Harry sighed and left.  
  
*~*~*  
  
"What is up with her?" Ron said.  
  
"She's just annoyed," Harry said quickly.  
  
They noticed that Bill was looking shifty.  
  
"Bill, there's something else, isn't there?" Gretchen said suspiciously.  
  
He nodded guiltily.  
  
"If you tell her I told you, I'm dead. She wanted to tell you herself."  
  
"What is it? Is she sick?"  
  
"No," he said. "She's pregnant."  
  
Sirius rolled his eyes.  
  
"Is everyone?"  
  
"No, unless you have something to tell us, Gretchen," Hermione said with a wicked grin.  
  
"I do not! Sirius and I will wait until our wedding night!"  
  
"Your wedding night?" Hermione and Ginny said with interest.  
  
Gretchen turned a shade to match her hair, noting her slip. Only then did they notice the diamond ring on her finger.  
  
"Oh my God! You're engaged, too?"  
  
"Today's score: two engagements and two pregnancies," Ginny said.  
  
Gretchen was still red. Their attention was diverted by a knock on the door. Bill went to get it.  
  
Charlie and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley entered the door, wrapped in coats and covered with snow.  
  
"Good afternoon," Hermione greeted.  
  
"Has George told you his news yet?" Hermione said deviously.  
  
Molly Weasley cast an accusing eye towards the redhead, who shrunk under the gaze.  
  
"No."  
  
"He's engaged," Ginny blurted.  
  
Mrs. Weasley erupted into squeals and shrieks of delight. She hugged Ally, she hugged George, she hugged Ally again, George again.,  
  
"When's the wedding?" she asked breathlessly.  
  
"July," said Ally, who was bright red.  
  
"And where are Fred and Alex?" Mrs. Weasley said, frowning.  
  
Ally looked at George quickly, so quickly only the Golds had good enough senses to see it.  
  
"Alex got a cold from Fred," Ally lied.  
  
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley swallowed it hook, line, and sinker. Charlie, however, looked much more suspicious. When their parents had gone, Charlie asked them about it.  
  
"What's really wrong with them?" he quietly asked.  
  
"I told you, Charlie," George said, attempting innocence.  
  
"I have never, do not, and never will fall for that innocent act. What happened?"  
  
George looked at Ally again, longer this time. She nodded.  
  
"They have to find out sometime," she whispered. "Alex won't be to happy, but then again, I don't blame her."  
  
George took a deep breath.  
  
"Alex and Fred went off into the bushes last night," George muttered. "We thought it was just kissing, but it wasn't."  
  
Charlie looked shocked for a moment, but recovered quickly. He nodded.  
  
"So Alex's pregnant," said Charlie. "When's the baby expected?"  
  
"Alex's WHAT?!"  
  
The Weasleys had returned.  
  
Everyone suddenly got quite shifty. George looked at Ally. It was her turn.  
  
"You heard right," she said. "Your son got my sister pregnant."  
  
Mrs. Weasley looked horrified. Mr. Weasley just looked stunned.  
  
"You can't tell anyone else about this," he said. "This can't get out."  
  
Harry understood why. Percy's fiancée was pregnant, and it had leaked to the press. The papers had gone wild. Mr. Weasley almost lost his office. If this got out, poor Mr. Weasley had lost his job for sure.  
  
"I am truly sorry about this," Mrs. Weasley said apologetically. "I can't believe our Freddy would do something like that."  
  
"Don't be sorry," Ally said. "He had help."  
  
Rose came back in, James and Lily on her heels. The twins saw their grandparents and ran, shrieking, towards them. Rose laughed. The Weasleys smiled weakly. The grin on Rose's face faded.  
  
"I take it you found out," she said.  
  
Mrs. Weasley nodded. Rose grimaced.  
  
"I told her to wait until she was married," she said disgustedly. "I told her."  
  
"Shouldn't we notify her parents?" Charlie suggested.  
  
Harry winced. Hermione cringed. Ginny looked at the floor. Rose faced her in-laws squarely.  
  
"Their mother is dead and the whereabouts of their father are unknown."  
  
At that moment in time, Alex and Fred came in the door. They were pale. Alex's eyes were red-rimmed and her voice was hoarse. When they saw Charlie and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Fred made a strange noise in his throat and turned to leave. Alex caught him with her Beater's arm. Everyone could see the muscles tense. This woman was nervous.  
  
"We already know," Charlie said.  
  
"Come with me," Rose said firmly.  
  
She grabbed Alex by the arm and dragged her into the library.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Rose threw her best friend into a chair and started yelling.  
  
"I cannot believe you! I have told you time and time again about this! Don't you see how stupid it was to do that now? Don't you see how ridiculously idiotic you have been?"  
  
Alex nodded weakly. A tear slipped down her cheek. Rose was immediately mortified. She sat down next to Alex and put her face in her hands.  
  
"I'm sorry, Alex, I'm so sorry!" she cried. She started to weep angry tears. "Why did you do that? Why? Do you know what that baby is going to go through? Do you know how hard it will be for it to ever have a normal life? Do you know how hard it will be for you and Fred to have a normal life now?"  
  
Alex sobbed harder.  
  
"I'm the one who should be sorry," she said. "I should have known you would react like this. I know what it was like for you when you were little. I should have been more careful; I shouldn't have let Fred do that to me. I can't believe I was so disrespectful! I should have considered how you would feel. Rose, you're so much more than a friend to me. You're like my sister. You helped me and Ally when Father beat us and this is how I repay you. I can't believe myself."  
  
"Alex, don't have regrets because of me."  
  
Alex looked at her and Rose looked back. They hugged each other and cried.  
  
*~*~*  
  
"Hey, Bill, where'd you put Ailani Robertson, anyways?" Ginny asked.  
  
"She stays upstairs. She hardly ever comes down. We bring her food and stuff to do, and she doesn't ask for anything else."  
  
Ron "subtly" coughed the word "Reagan."  
  
"No," Bill said.  
  
"Mm," Rose said. "Hm-mm."  
  
Everyone stared. Rose had come back in and was trying to shake her head as discreetly as possible. They got the hint.  
  
"Oh!"  
  
*Idiots. Why don't you just switch over to telepathy?* Ally's voice said in their heads.  
  
*That might be a good idea,* said Rose. *Anyways, Ailani's been helping me look for Reagan and there's been a sighting of him in a room of the Three Broomsticks.*  
  
Rose scratched her arm.  
  
*You feeling that?*  
  
*No.*  
  
*Negative.*  
  
*Nothing.*  
  
*I feel it,* Gretchen said. *In fact, I'm supposed to be there already.*  
  
*Wonderful. This does not mean good things.*  
  
"Sorry," she said aloud. "I need to go and get something."  
  
She left for the Apparition point and went to the Hall. Gretchen followed. Everyone was waiting, except for one person.  
  
"Where's Em?"  
  
Emily Grumman was not there. Rose's on-edge senses were tingling like mad.  
  
"She has had an accident," Severus said.  
  
"Is she all right?" Rose asked concernedly.  
  
"Snape," Minerva said disdainfully. "We agreed we would tell them everything."  
  
"Is she all right?" Rose asked, a note of panic in her voice now.  
  
"She is dead," Minerva said quietly. 


	10. Quite Rude Awakenings

I found another theory about why Snape hates Harry and thought I should share!  
  
Severus Snape could be Harry's uncle!  
  
Check this out: Severus Snape is and absolutely PERFECT anagram (ya know, rearrange the letters) of Perseus Snape! So the theory goes that the Evans were horrified when Perseus/Severus got his letter and sent him away, and then felt guilty about it, and when Lily turned out to be a witch, so went with a "try it and see" policy and decided that magic wasn't evil after all. And Snape hated James for dating his sis so he hates Harry! Very smart person wrote that, just a very unlikely theory.  
  
Lost in Darkness  
  
Chapter Ten: Quite Rude Awakenings  
  
Jay was sitting on the Knight Bus with Neville on the bed next to hers. He was snoring loudly. They were on their way to Neville's grandmother's house. It was six a.m. on Christmas morning.  
  
Jay glanced out the window and was immediately enchanted. The sun was rising. Rays of light in pink and orange and blue spilled across the blanket of white covering everything. First just a glimmer of yellow was seen, and then a piece of a circle, then suddenly the whole sun just shot up in the sky.  
  
Neville snorted in his sleep. The bus suddenly stopped with a bang. Jay reached over and gently shook him awake.  
  
"Neville, we're here."  
  
He rolled out of bed and helped Jay up. They grabbed their bags and descended the steps towards Neville's fairly spacious middle-class home. Jay kept a good hold on Neville's arm. She was hungry, but didn't feel much like eating.  
  
"She's going to love you," Neville assured her.  
  
"She probably won't," Jay said. "Consider my family line and what happened to your grandmother's son and daughter-in-law."  
  
Neville flinched. They never brought up the topic of Neville's parents and rarely brought up Jay's family.  
  
"Grandma doesn't make prejudgments," Neville told her firmly.  
  
He knocked on the door. After a few seconds, a slightly elderly witch with a stuffed vulture hat on her head opened it. She leaned heavily on a cane and was quite obviously sick.  
  
"Neville!" she said in a wheezy voice. "I'm so glad you could make it home!"  
  
Neville hugged his grandmother. Mrs. Longbottom noticed Jay.  
  
"And who is this young lady?" she asked.  
  
"This is who I told you about in my letters," Neville said with a big smile on his face.  
  
"My name's Jessica," Jay said.  
  
She shook Mrs. Longbottom's hand.  
  
"Pleased to meet you," she said.  
  
"The pleasure is all mine, Mrs. Longbottom," Jay said with a warm smile.  
  
"Come in, both of you!"  
  
Jay leaned towards Neville and whispered in his ear.  
  
"Did you tell her about my family?"  
  
Neville shook his head.  
  
"You've come just in time for breakfast," Mrs. Longbottom said.  
  
They followed her into a small dining room. Three plates of steaming toast were set out. Jay sat next to Neville, who was next to Mrs. Longbottom.  
  
"So, Jessica," Mrs. Longbottom said. "What house are you in?"  
  
"Gryffindor," Jay said proudly.  
  
"An excellent house. I myself was a Hufflepuff, but my son was a Gryffindor and so was my husband. What house were your parents in?"  
  
Jay looked at her plate and began picking apart her toast, thinking about what to say. She settled on the truth.  
  
"Slytherin," she said quietly.  
  
"Well, that doesn't really matter," Mrs. Longbottom said. Jay could tell that she was lying. "What matters is your house. So what is your surname anyways?"  
  
Jay gulped. It was hard. She forced a piece of toast down her throat and struggled to keep it in her stomach. It didn't work. She knew it wouldn't stay down long.  
  
"Rawson," she said quietly.  
  
Mrs. Longbottom was silent for a few moments. Then she grabbed Neville by the ear and hauled him into the hallway. Jay ran to find a bathroom.  
  
*~*~*  
  
"Your girlfriend is a Death Eater?" she asked incredulously. "Don't you remember what they've done to us? What they've done to you?"  
  
"Jay's not like that."  
  
"She's a Death Eater! They're all the same. They torture and kill and steal, all for pleasure! For pleasure, Neville!"  
  
Neville met his grandmother's eyes. He tried to hide how deeply her words had hurt him.  
  
"Jay's not like that," he whispered. "She hates her blood line. She hates her family and what they stand for."  
  
"So do I!" Mrs. Longbottom yelled.  
  
She stormed off in a self-righteous rage. Neville sighed and went to find Jay.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Jay leaned against the door of the bathroom, her hands shaking and tears rolling down her face. She had heard the entire conversation. Her stomach ached, and she leaned over the toilet and threw up again. At least her hair was tied back. She heard a knock at the door and undid the locking charms. Neville came in and saw her on the floor.  
  
"Oh, Jay," he sighed.  
  
He helped her up. To her surprise, she found that she couldn't stand. She leaned on him heavily as he led her into a guest room decorated in an ocean theme with little shells on the dresser and around the mirror.  
  
"Jay, something's really wrong," Neville said. "You're skin and bones. Almost literally. You can't even support your own weight."  
  
"I'm scared!" she suddenly cried. "Everywhere I turn I feel like Mother and Father are going to burst out, grab me, and force me even deeper into the inner circle, if that's even possible! I don't feel safe, anywhere!"  
  
"Shh," Neville said reassuringly. "You're safe here. I promise you. You're safe at Hogwarts."  
  
He wrapped his arms around Jay's waist. She put her hands on top of his and kissed him briefly on the lips.  
  
"I was lying," she said softly. "I feel safe with you."  
  
She kissed him again, longer this time. They were interrupted by a yell from Mrs. Longbottom.  
  
"Neville Alexander Longbottom!" she shouted in her croaky old voice. "Get in here!"  
  
"For a sick old woman, she sure doesn't act weak, does she?" Jay commented dryly.  
  
Neville simply rolled his eyes and stood up. Jay continued leaning on him as they slowly walked in the direction of Mrs. Longbottom's shout.  
  
"I want to talk to you, Miss Rawson," she said.  
  
Jay winced at the mention of her last name. Neville helped her into a chair and hid just outside the door to listen.  
  
"What did you want to speak to me about, Mrs. Longbottom?" Jay asked.  
  
"Don't try your polite manners on me, you filthy little Death Eater," Mrs. Longbottom snarled. "You stay away from my grandson, you hear? Stay away from Neville."  
  
A single tear slipped down Jay's pale cheek.  
  
"But I love him," she whispered.  
  
"If you love him you'll stay away from him."  
  
But Jay was no longer listening. The tears were pouring now.  
  
"Do you know what I've done to help your son?" she cried. "I've spent hours helping him pass his tests. I've worked so hard to keep him from people who want to hurt him." She met Mrs. Longbottom's eyes. "I would die to save him," she whispered.  
  
She stood up and calmly walked from the room, although heavily leaning on any furniture she could reach. Neville caught her as she passed the door.  
  
"Is that true?" he asked quietly.  
  
"Yes," she said truthfully. "I would never lie about something like that."  
  
She kissed him on the cheek. He hugged her to his chest and they stood there like that for a long time.  
  
*~*~*  
  
"Dead?"  
  
Rose couldn't believe her ears. Em Grumman, dead? How was it possible?  
  
"She was shot down by one of Lord Voldemort's supporters," Minerva McGonagall explained.  
  
"Is that all?" Rose asked, a hint of sarcasm in her voice.  
  
"No," the man said. "We need a replacement for her."  
  
Rose's eyes widened at who he was implying.  
  
"Who?" she asked, although she knew what was coming.  
  
"You," the woman said.  
  
Rose thought for a moment before answering.  
  
"If this was eight years ago, I would agree," she said. "But I have a family. I have to discuss this with them first."  
  
They looked disappointed, but sent Gretchen and her back. The Weasleys had left. Only Harry, Hermione, Ron, Bill, Sirius, and the twins waited for them.  
  
"So?" Harry asked impatiently.  
  
"I've got good news and bad news."  
  
"Good news first," Ron said.  
  
"They've offered me a seat."  
  
"That's great!" Hermione shrieked.  
  
They all jumped on Rose and hugged her.  
  
"And the bad news?" Harry asked after they had sat down.  
  
Rose took a deep breath.  
  
"Em's dead," she said quietly.  
  
"Dead?!" everyone said at once.  
  
They then descended into a state of complete shock, in which none of them said a word. The first person to speak was Harry. His voice sounded hoarse and cracked every other syllable, something that hadn't happened since he was about fourteen.  
  
"How?"  
  
"A Death Eater," Gretchen explained. "Who else?"  
  
Ron shook his head.  
  
"This damned Order of the Phoenix is ruining our lives."  
  
He stomped off in the direction of the castle. Harry and Hermione looked helplessly at Rose and ran after him. Gretchen and Rose collapsed on the couch and almost immediately fell asleep.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Lord Voldemort and Lady Lucretia waited for their favorite Death Eaters to show. Sure enough, they came right on time. Lady Jessica Rawson, Lord Robert Rawson and Lady Kerry Rawson Apparated in front of him, accompanied by Erin O'Connell and Draco Malfoy.  
  
"Well?" Lucretia said impatiently. "Do you have any information?"  
  
"The Longbottom woman has rejected Jessica," Lady Jessica said.  
  
"Good," Lord Voldemort said. "We have several things to schedule in the.,quite near future. I believe a double wedding is in order."  
  
He glanced at O'Connell and Malfoy.  
  
"Must we do this?" Lord Robert complained.  
  
"I see," Voldemort breathed. "You are protective of her."  
  
"That is not what I-"  
  
"Milord," Kerry said smoothly. "My father simply wishes to learn why my half-sister must marry the son of Frank Longbottom."  
  
"Because it is part of the plan," Lucretia said with happiness. "She will marry Neville Longbottom. Then we will kill Neville Longbottom. She will become delightfully cruel and learn how we work."  
  
Kerry smiled.  
  
"But who will have the pleasure of killing the boy?" she asked.  
  
"That shall be a job for a little friend of ours," Lucretia said. "All we have to do is find him."  
  
*~*~*  
  
Rose woke up when Gretchen shook her shoulder.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Reagan Malfoy-Riddle's in The Golden Phoenix."  
  
"Now?!"  
  
"Yes, now! Come on!"  
  
The two women stood up and swung cloaks over their shoulders. Bill and Sirius caught them at the Phoenix.  
  
"He's inside. George is talking to him. He fits the description. Black hair, green eyes, unnaturally pale, and too smart for a kid."  
  
Rose pulled the hood of her cloak up. It was a deep red velvet cloak, so she looked quite mysterious in it. A single gold tassel hung down from the point of the hood.  
  
"Nice look," Gretchen commented.  
  
"I look like Little Red Riding Hood."  
  
"No, you don't."  
  
"Yes, I do."  
  
"Shh!"  
  
They took a table next to the one George and Reagan were at. They listened to the conversation between the two.  
  
"Where are your parents?" George was asking.  
  
"Out," Reagan said vaguely. "They left me here to entertain myself."  
  
"You want something to drink?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Hungry?"  
  
"No."  
  
*Okay, I can't stand this,* Rose whispered. *I'm going over there."  
  
She stood up and casually walked to the booth. She slid into the seat next to George.  
  
"Hi, George," she said in a friendly voice. "Long time, no see."  
  
"Wha- oh," he said. "Hi, Rosie."  
  
Rose winced.  
  
"Please don't call me that."  
  
"Sure. Rose, this is Reagan."  
  
Reagan looked Rose in the eyes. And although her face was hidden with the cloak, she knew the boy could recognize her. And then he spoke to her.  
  
*Greetings, Rosemary Weasley-Potter. I have waited a long time for this.*  
  
Feeling the child in her head was like torture. It felt like trying to shove a hairbrush up your nose. His mind contained too much information for her mind to take. She grabbed her head.  
  
*Get out of my mind!* she screamed.  
  
*I won't. We're joined. I can't and I wouldn't if I could. This causes you pain. Oh, and by the way, I think I see some friends of my parents coming in now.*  
  
Rose snapped off the connection, which was almost as painful as maintaining it. She helplessly watched as Draco Malfoy grabbed Reagan and Disapparated along with his younger half-brother.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Jay and Neville wandered the deserted streets of Diagon Alley, looking for a place to spend the night. Neville's grandmother had fully rejected Jay, and finally she and Neville had left.  
  
"Jay, you need to sleep," Neville said insistently. "You're sick."  
  
"I'm not," she protested weakly. "I'm not.,"  
  
"Look, see there? There's an inn that the low budgets of two students can handle. It's not shabby, either. Come on, just a little farther."  
  
But she couldn't make it any farther. She went limp and couldn't get any farther. Neville picked her up and carried her into the inn. The man at the desk didn't ask questions. He gave them a room near the little restaurant. Neville laid Jay on the only bed in the room.  
  
"I'll sleep on the floor," he said.  
  
Jay was too tired to protest. She immediately began slipping off to sleep, but woke up suddenly at an excruciating pain in her arm. She screamed, waking up Neville from his already sound sleep.  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
"I'm being summoned."  
  
Neville took a deep breath.  
  
"I'm coming."  
  
"No, you are not."  
  
"Yes I am."  
  
Jay Disapparated. Unfortunately, as she was doing so, Neville grabbed her around the waist.  
  
"Surprise."  
  
She appeared in a heavily wooded forest. She recognized everyone but one person. O'Connell, Malfoy, Lord Voldemort, Lady Lucretia.,and her family. The only one she did not recognize was a boy with pale skin, black hair, and red eyes.  
  
"We are going to have some fun today," Lucretia said.  
  
"Uh oh," Neville muttered.  
  
"Your friend will play quite a part," Kerry Rawson said.  
  
"Very bad. Very bad. Very bad."  
  
"Jessica, how would you like to be Mrs. Neville Longbottom?" Kerry asked.  
  
Jay started swearing in French.  
  
"Condamner chienne-"  
  
"Jessica," Kerry said playfully. "That's no way to speak."  
  
"It is to you," Jay growled.  
  
Kerry smiled and waved her hand forward. Six Death Eaters swarmed up. Two gripped Jay and Neville by the backs of their necks. Two twisted up their arms, and the last two poked wands into their backs. Kerry shoved a quill into the hands of both Neville and Jay. Lord Voldemort pointed his wand at her. Lady Lucretia's wand was trained on Neville.  
  
"Imperio," the twins said in unison.  
  
Immediately Jay began to try to fight it off. It was a basic instinct inside her system, there since she was five years old. But Lord Voldemort was more powerful than her father. A Death Eater held out a piece of paper. A marriage license. Neville's shaking hand extended towards the paper. Shook. Good, he was fighting. Pretty hard, too. Good. He was fighting it. Jay watched hopefully, but his hand hit the paper. He signed.  
  
Her next. She fought. She gritted her teeth but did not scream. She was a Rawson. Rawsons did not scream. But it was no use. The quill lowered to the paper. Her hand moved, up and down, signing.  
  
Signing.  
  
The curse was lifted. Neville and Jay dropped to the ground. But it wasn't the ground anymore. It was the floor. They were back in their hotel room.  
  
"Well," Jay said.  
  
"Well," Neville said.  
  
"I'm Mrs. Longbottom now."  
  
"Jay?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Let's not tell anyone."  
  
"We should tell the professors."  
  
"Dumbledore. But no one else, okay?"  
  
Jay smiled nervously.  
  
"So no wedding night festivities, huh?"  
  
Neville looked shocked.  
  
"Were you expecting some?"  
  
"No, no," she said hastily. "I thought you might be, though."  
  
"No. Not until we've graduated."  
  
Jay took a deep breath. Time to spill. All her secrets were coming out, right now. She was not going to have any secrets in this family if she could help it.  
  
"Okay. Sit down."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"I'm about to tell you a very dramatic story. It's called my life."  
  
Neville sat down on the bed. Jay sat next to him.  
  
"I was born on September the eleventh, nineteen eighty-one. Just a little over a month before the Dark Lord fell. If only it had been a little longer, I might not even have this." She touched her tattoo. "As soon as I was born, the blood barely washed off my skin, the Dark Mark was burned onto my flesh."  
  
"I thought it wasn't until you turned eleven."  
  
"I was an exception. The famous Rawsons, second in power only to the Dark Lord himself. And with Malfoy blood! Just below us in dark power ranking. My mother is a Malfoy. Yes, Draco Malfoy is my cousin. Pure torture."  
  
"What happened when You-Know-Who was defeated?"  
  
"My family pulled a Malfoy and said that they had been acting under the Imperius Curse. The minister was stupid and believed them. But the darkness remained. My sister was actually helping my parents perform the curses. She had her first kill the day of Voldemort's fall. After that, I was trained in how to behave. They were sure that he would come back. It started when I was three.  
  
"Bedtime stories would be grisly accounts of killings and torture. If I did anything my family didn't approve of, I would be punished. If they were in a good mood, I would be locked in the dungeon of the manor and they would only use knives. If they were in a bad mood, they used Imperius or Cruciatus. I was trained to resist the curses. It is possible, if you have enough control, to turn the violent twisting from the Cruciatus Curse into defensive movement. I couldn't fight them, though, or they'd just hold the curse out longer. They showed me how to do the Unforgivable Curses when I was six. I was taught manners for when we hosted dinner parties for the Death Eaters and such. But it reached a climax when he came back.  
  
"I felt my tattoo burn, but I couldn't leave. I was inside Hogwarts, you see. I used an Aging Potion to accompany the other Durmstrang students to the Triwizard Tournament. I didn't enter, but I watched. I saw everything my parents saw that night. They were there. They had used Polyjuice Potion and went by their aliases. That's why I was so afraid of Harry. What he did there.it was amazing. He's very powerful, Neville, very powerful. If he was against me, I was doomed."  
  
Neville laid his hand on top of hers.  
  
"I never knew things were that bad," he said softly.  
  
"I didn't want you to know."  
  
"And what was that about dinner parties?"  
  
"Oh, yes. You're polite, so you won't really need to know manners. I wasn't that polite, so I needed lessons. They'll tell us when we need to host a dinner."  
  
"But we don't have a house."  
  
"Yes, unfortunately, we do. Mine. We have two wings of the house on either side. What we do is every generation, my family has two children. Those two children, when they marry, each get a wing of the house. Then, when their parents die, the child considered most important moves into the main wing, and the other child gets their wing, and their children get the far wing."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Well, we have the west wing. Kerry, when she marries, will have the right one. I'll explain the rest when my parents die."  
  
She smiled, and her eyelids drooped. Neville laid her on the bed and she fell asleep. Leaning over her, Neville planted a quick kiss on her forehead, then curled up next to her and dropped off. 


	11. What a Nightmare!

So sorry this took so long, but I had horrible writer's block and then I had to read OP then got depressed because all my fanfics are out of date now. I finally got an idea and now I'm back on track again...sort of.  
  
You people have not reviewed in forever! I feel forgotten. (  
  
Lost in Darkness  
  
Chapter Eleven: What a Nightmare  
  
That night, Rose and Bill moved back into their Hogwarts apartment.  
  
Rose slept restlessly. She kept having horrible nightmares. In one, she saw Snape screaming and clutching his arm, blood spurting out of a wound just below his shoulder. In another, she saw Jay, screaming, too, but pressing her arm to an ash-black Dark Mark on her arm. She saw herself watching a coffin be lowered into the ground. But the one she woke up to was when she dreamed that she was dead. She felt a sword rammed into her stomach, and she woke up, screaming.  
  
"Rose, what's wrong?" Bill asked concernedly.  
  
"Nothing," she panted. "Nothing, just a nightmare."  
  
"For you, nothing is 'just a nightmare.'"  
  
"Seriously. Go back to sleep," she said firmly with a hint of stubbornness.  
  
Within minutes, his snores filled the room. Rose fell back to sleep, but just had more nightmares. These were from her past. The night Voldemort came to her house. She heard her father, yelling at her mother to run. She heard Sarah begging Lucius Malfoy, and heard her dying. She felt the excruciating pain when his curse hit her. She heard her mother's pleas, and her running to help, but was too late. She heard Harry crying, sitting next to their mother's body, and relived her fight with Sirius and Hagrid, begging to keep Harry. She woke up again, her face covered in sweat and tears. It took her hours to fall back to sleep.  
  
When she woke up the next morning, she was still exhausted. Bill was already up. She climbed out of bed and shivered as the cold air hit her. Her head throbbed. She reached for her brush and methodically began brushing her hair, still wild from her restless night.  
  
"Still tired?" Bill asked sympathetically.  
  
"Just a bit," she yawned.  
  
"Go back to bed. You need to sleep."  
  
"No, I don't," she said stubbornly.  
  
"Yes, you do."  
  
"No, I don't!"  
  
Bill dropped the subject. Quickly. Rose sighed and massaged the bags under her eyes, wondering whether Harry was awake yet.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Harry woke up on Boxing Day to his cousin bouncing on the foot of his bed.  
  
"Hermione!"  
  
"Come on, you need to get up."  
  
"It's seven in the morning and there's no school. Let me sleep, woman."  
  
"Come on! We're going to spend the day with Rose and Bill and the twins!"  
  
Harry grudgingly rolled out of bed. Hermione stopped bouncing.  
  
"Come on, we need to wake Ginny up."  
  
"You do that."  
  
As soon as she had left the room, he fell asleep again. It didn't last long, though. He heard a woman crying. Not in his room, in his head.  
  
*Um...are you okay?*  
  
*Oh! Harry, that's you, isn't it?*  
  
*No. It's Lord Voldemort. Why were you crying?*  
  
*I wasn't crying out loud,* she said defensively. *Just in my head.*  
  
*Yeah, but why?*  
  
The Golds rarely invaded the heads of others. It was really very rude.  
  
*I had a dream last night.*  
  
*Dream as in a Seer dream or dream as in a bad dream?*  
  
*Bad dream. My brain did a dementor on me and I started reliving my worst moments.*  
  
*And those would be?*  
  
*I should think you'd know.*  
  
*Roughly. But tell me anyways.*  
  
*You really want the whole list?*  
  
*Yes.*  
  
*Tough.*  
  
*Rose!*  
  
"Harry!"  
  
Harry snapped back into the real world. Ron's vivid red head was poking through his door.  
  
"We're going to the common room."  
  
"I'll be down in a second."  
  
*I've got to go,* he told Rose.  
  
*I know.*  
  
Just as Harry was leaving, James the phoenix flew through his window carrying a letter. Checking the handwriting, he realized it was from Jay. He slowly descended the spiral staircase and sat down onto his couch. Ginny was already there. Ron and Hermione were on Ron's couch.  
  
"Who's the letter from?" Hermione asked.  
  
"Neville," Harry said, slitting the envelope open.  
  
He read it out loud.  
  
"Dear Harry, I know you're probably reading this to your friends, so hello to them too. Jay and I are at an inn in Diagon Alley. Mrs. Longbottom's reaction to Jay's line of ancestry was, shall we say, not so pleasant. We went here to hide. Unfortunately, the Death Eaters found us. Jay was summoned, and I insisted on coming, too. Apparently they were expecting that, because they had a marriage license ready. They made us sign it. That's not as good as you might think. Please give this to Professor Dumbledore. Neville."  
  
There was a long, stunned, silence, broken by Ginny.  
  
"Well," she said brightly. "Jay and Neville have been busy, haven't they?"  
  
*~*~*  
  
Rose sat down at her desk and pressed her fingers to the bridge of her nose. She was getting an absolutely excruciating headache.  
  
"Something wrong?" Bill asked.  
  
"Headache," Rose groaned.  
  
"It's called 'overwork.'"  
  
"It is not overwork."  
  
"You've been working up to ten hours a day on finding You-Know-Who."  
  
"No. Specifically, I am finding his nephew."  
  
"Whatever."  
  
She continued scribbling on a piece of parchment for about five more minutes. After a while, she threw down her quill and sighed in frustration.  
  
"I can't take this anymore. Bill, can I show you something?"  
  
Bill nodded. Rose expected that by now he was quite used to her spontaneity. She led him into a locked room hidden behind a tapestry, of which there were many. Inside were several things.  
  
The first was an old Cleansweep Three, well-worn but still carefully polished and sitting on a rack. Another was a worn, well-loved stuffed lioness toy with a charm shaped like a phoenix hanging on a faded red ribbon around its neck. Another was a figurine of a wolf howling at the moon floating above it. Folded in a corner were several sets of tiny Gryffindor Quidditch robes, one about the right size for a tiny baby, another for a one-year-old, another for a two-year-old, yet another for a child about three, and one for a girl of about four. There were several worn copies of the Lord of the Rings books on a shelf, and Rose's Invisibility Cloak hung on a rack. A Pensieve sat in a corner. Around the room were all sorts of other odd little things. But the most interesting item was a little rocky pool with a large jug of water beside it. Inside the pool rested a glass ball about the size of a Quaffle filled with pearly mist.  
  
"Is that..."  
  
"A scrying pool," Rose said proudly. "It's very handy, considering the one who gave it to me."  
  
"This was..."  
  
Rose scowled.  
  
"It was a Christmas present the year before Harry was born. From Wormtail."  
  
"Oh."  
  
She picked up the jug and poured a good deal of clear water into the pool. The water swirled and glowed. Rose placed her hands on either side of the pool and cleared her throat.  
  
"Show me what happens to Lord Voldemort."  
  
The pool glittered once again, but this time went blank. Rose scowled and swore.  
  
"What does that mean?" Bill asked.  
  
"It's still up for grabs," Rose sighed. "Something's happened that could mess everything up. Yesterday it said we'd get him. I think it's going to stay indefinite like that for a while."  
  
*~*~*  
  
Alex looked at her reflection in the mirror. Perfect, she thought approvingly. She wore an old-fashioned long black velvet dress with silver trim and a black cloak that covered her face when the hood was up. One last thing to do...  
  
She took a deep breath and raised her wand to her hair. Long tresses of golden hair dropped to the floor. When Alex's once almost waist-length hair had been clipped and curled to a fashionable shoulder-length style, she scooped up the hair and dropped it into her vanity. She then lifted the hood and fixed the silver tassel that hung on the point at the forehead. She then dropped some gold into her pocket and set off for the Hog's Head.  
  
It was crowded there. Luckily, it didn't seem unusual for people to keep their face covered. Alex quickly did a voice charm, changing her high- pitched tones to those more reminiscent of Narcissa Malfoy. She slid into a seat at the bar. The bartender came over, polishing a filthy glass with an even filthier rag.  
  
"What'll it be, Missy?" he growled in a deep voice.  
  
"Firewhisky," Alex said in hard tones.  
  
He ducked under the bar and came up holding a tall bottle of murky brown beer. Alex snatched the bottle, popped the lid, and drank a third of the bottle in a single gulp.  
  
"Missy, you'll need to pay for that."  
  
Alex flicked him off and insolently drank some more. Half the bottle was gone. The bar had suddenly gone quiet.  
  
"Sure. Fine. Whatever. Here," she snarled, shoving a few Galleons at him.  
  
She downed the rest of the bottle and ordered more.  
  
*~*~*  
  
"Anyone else wondering where Alex is?" Ally mused aloud.  
  
"No," Rose said sarcastically. "I have much better things to worry about than a missing Gold member of the Order of the Phoenix."  
  
"Here we go again," Ron muttered under his breath.  
  
"There's no need to get short with me," Ally said huffily.  
  
"They have now been doing this for the past half hour," Hermione groaned.  
  
"Well, your question was just slightly obvious."  
  
"I was just wondering!"  
  
"I believe you said that already."  
  
"That's it, I can't take it anymore," Harry snapped, standing up.  
  
Rose and Ally stopped bickering and looked at the seventh year.  
  
"I can't take you two bickering anymore. I'm going to go and try to find Alex."  
  
"I'm coming," Rose said.  
  
"Fine. Don't let her twin come," Ally snarled.  
  
"You aren't coming because if you do, you and Rose will argue," Harry said with the patient air one uses when talking to a small child one is angry with and trying not to spank.  
  
Ally scowled fiercely and began fiddling with the diamond on her finger. Rose gave her the Death Glare and made sure to brush back her shining hair with her hand wearing the elaborate ruby-and-gold wedding ring shaped like a lion and the even fancier engagement ring shaped like a Unisus and made of several different jewels.  
  
"Let's just go," Harry snapped.  
  
Rose pulled on a scarlet cloak, contrasting with Harry's plain black school- issue cloak. They simultaneously pulled up their hoods and went out into the flurrying snow.  
  
"Where d'you think we should check?" Harry asked.  
  
Rose shrugged. "Three Broomsticks, Zonko's, Honeyduke's, Hog's Head."  
  
"Okay, Three Broomsticks first."  
  
They trudged through the snow to the Three Broomsticks. Although they did not see Alex, Madame Rosmerta was extremely helpful.  
  
"I saw her heading that way a bit ago," she said, pointing in the direction the siblings had walked.  
  
"Only Zonko's and the Hog's Head is over there," Rose said. "Zonko's is first."  
  
They swung into Zonko's, stopping briefly to ogle at a new item that had just come in, a fake Firebolt. As soon as you tried to fly it, it would turn into a mop.  
  
"I should buy it for Alex," Rose said. "Speaking of which, we'd better find her soon or I will risk strangling her."  
  
The last stop was the nasty-looking pub, The Hog's Head.  
  
"Keep your hood up and, whatever you do, don't let your scar show," Rose muttered. "I've been here before while I was in school."  
  
"Really?" Harry said keenly. "When was this?"  
  
"I did some stupid things when I was in second year, including sneaking out of my dorm. Here's a tip: being drunk is horribly, horribly unpleasant, and so is having poison slipped into your firewhisky. And firewhisky's practically poisonous in the first place..."  
  
"I think I'll stay out here."  
  
"Okay."  
  
Rose casually swung into the pub. It was just as she remembered. Filthy, loud, and raucous. She looked around for Alex. It was hard to see if she was there, as most everyone had their face covered. She looked for anyone who looked remotely female. She saw only one person, someone sitting at the bar and drinking a firewhisky. Rose sighed. Only one thing to do. She casually invaded her thoughts to see who it was. She swelled in fury, Mrs. Weasley-like, at what she saw.  
  
Tossing her head so the hood fell from her face, she marched to where her friend sat at the bar. She grabbed her by the neck of the cloak and hauled her out of the pub. She then threw the hood away from her face. She gasped at what she saw.  
  
Alex's beautiful turquoise eyes seemed to have faded to a dull grey-blue and had sunk into her skull. There were deep bags under her eyes and her face was impossibly pale. Her hair had been cut into a shoulder-length, curly style that would have been quite fashionable if the curls hand't been so limp. Harry was edging back to the house on the other side of town. He could sense the impending explosion.  
  
Rose's eyes began to turn violet as she swelled even further. Her cheeks, pink from the cold, began to turn white, then red with anger. Her blood pressure was rising further and further.  
  
"I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU!" she suddenly shrieked, sending several birds out of a nearby tree, twittering into the snowy sky. "FIRST YOU SLEEP WITH A GUY YOU'RE NOT EVEN ENGAGED TO, THEN, WHILE YOU'RE PREGNANT, GO TO A BAR AND GET DRUNK OFF FIREWHISKY! DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU COULD HAVE DONE TO THE BABY?"  
  
Alex lifted her chin stubbornly. Rose's blood pressure went off the scale.  
  
"ALEXA ELIZABETH BERNARD! I THOUGHT YOU HAD LEARNED AFTER YOU SLEPT WITH FREDERICK! BUT NO, YOU THINK YOU'LL GO DROWN YOURSELF IN BOOZE, THAT'LL SOLVE THE PROBLEM! YOU IDIOT!"  
  
She grabbed Alex' ear and hauled her, protesting, back to the house.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Not much, but I need to update. Next chapter: HUGE fight. Bernards vs. Potters, which of course will split the Weasleys in half. The teams stand thus: Alex, Ally, Fred, George, and Mr. Weasley for the Bernards' side of the argument, and Rose, Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Mrs. Weasley for the Potters' side. That'll be something good, won't it? ( 


End file.
